Exhibition of drawings from The Eugeniusz Geppert Academy of Arts and Design in Wroclaw at UNC Charlotte, USA.
"The uncertain and imprecise way of constructing a drawing is sometimes a model of how to construct meaning…the ethical and moral questions...in our heads seem to rise to the surface as a consequence of the process".
William Kentridge
Drawing Connection is an exhibition of undergraduate and graduate students' drawings that travelled to Charlotte from The Eugeniusz Geppert Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Wroclaw, Poland, our partner institution. They were gathered by the Academy Drawing Professors Marlena Promna-Pietrek, Ph.D. and Jaroslaw Grulkowski, Ph.D. Majority of works in the collection were created during drawing session in several of 11 Drawing Studios at the Academy. Many are rooted in direct observation, which is often just as a departure point; they are interpretative, expressive, and involve experimentation. Figure Drawing studios at the Academy are meeting points for an intersection of students pursuing different concentrations. Advanced sessions with models are open ended, there are no assignments, students generate their own ideas, manipulate the form while they investigate tools and mediums.
Students are encouraged to participate in extramural projects, exhibitions and competitions involving drawing, these are both national and international. This is an opportunity for an exposure and to view their work in a broader context of contemporary drawing. Examples of such events are: International Figurative Drawing Review Figurama, or Wroclaw based International Drawing Triennial (this well-known juried exhibition started in 1960').
At the Academy of Fine Arts and Design, drawing is an everyday practice, seen as basis to all forms of creative inquiry, a connector between different mediums and a direct way of acknowledging the present moment. Observational drawing is a language that reveals what we already know and a process that disrupts assumptions. A work with live model is an exercise in both empathy and humility. Drawing betrays how we attend to the world, a drawing mark may inform, confuse or take us places we did not know existed. Drawing marks, whether spontaneous, intuitive, strategically planned, expressive, lyrical, aggressive, calculated, descriptive, rapid or slow, direct or equivocal, austere or exuberant, humorous or melancholy, are powerful devices.
Due to its inherent straightforwardness and accessibility, drawing may be perceived as a basis to more complex and calculated artistic endeavors, in the same time drawings may function as a fully autonomous works of art.
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Artists:
Aga Apoznańska, Dawid Bartoń, Iga Bujarkiewicz, Anna Dębska, Andrzej Dyja, Wiktoria Dynowska, Aleksandra Dzido, Olivia Ennis, Klementyna Epa, Aleksandra Fajlert, Malwina Gaj, Wiktor Gałka, Patryk Gmerek, Laura Jerzak, Łukasz Kapuściński, Olga Kawacińska, Justyna Kazanecka, Justyna Klecka, Olimpia Kogut, Nikita Krzyżanowska, Katarzyna Kwaśniewska, Kamila Mierzwińska, Sebastian Milewski, Paulina Młynek, Dorota Morawiec, Jarosława Pabich Szmyt, Magdalena Parfieniuk, Kamil Pieczykolan, Monika Polak, Martyna Rychlik, Patrycja Sap, Aleksandra Sitek, Klaudia Sznura, Marek Światek, Anna Waclawek, Monika Walczak, Kacper Wiatrak
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8.01.2020 – 7.02. 2020
Lower Rowe Gallery Department of Art & Art History, CoA+A, UNC Charlotte, USA
Curators: Maja Godlewska, Jarosław Grulkowski, Adam Justice, Marlena Promna
