Dorothea Rockburne “Drawing Which Makes Itself”
The Museum of Modern Art
This event has ended.
“How could drawing be of itself and not about something else?” Dorothea Rockburne’s 1973 exhibition at the Bykert Gallery in New York, a touchstone in modern drawing practice, aimed to address the artist’s query. Using the wall as her surface, Rockburne created a series of works using carbon paper, which she manipulated to create a carefully mapped network of ruled lines; marks were made by the carbon removal along the folds in the paper. The resulting structures engage the viewer visually and bodily, shaping their perception of the gallery space and challenging expectations of what a drawing can be. Rockburne has said, “Drawing is the bones of thought.” The exhibition Dorothea Rockburne: Drawing Which Makes Itself pays homage to the artist’s groundbreaking project of the same name, with a group of major carbon paper and wall works—including Nesting and Neighborhood, from MoMA’s collection—exhibited together for the first time since 1973. Contextualizing the wall drawings is a selection of Rockburne’s works on paper and paintings from that decade, selected from MoMA’s strong holdings of her work and the artist’s personal collection. The exhibition highlights the concerns that have occupied Rockburne since her early career, including the application of mathematical principles, and her continued engagement with, and challenge of, the methods and practice of drawing.
[Image: Dorothea Rockburne “Neighborhood” (1973) transparentized paper, pencil, and colored pencil on wall 160 x 90 in. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Gift of J. Frederic Byers III, 1978. © 2013 Dorothea Rockburne / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York]
Media
Schedule
from September 21, 2013 to January 20, 2014