The psychological impact of this period manifests as expressions of anxiety, fear, and rage in works by Rina Banerjee, Gina Beavers, Meriem Bennani, Katherine Bernhardt, R. Crumb, Aline Kominsky Crumb, Karl Haendel, Rachel Harrison, Rashid Johnson, Annette Messager, Walter Price, and Anton van Dalen. Drawings by Michael Armitage, Alvaro Barrington, Christine Sun Kim, Rirkrit Tiravanija, Fred Tomaselli, and Cauleen Smith are more overtly political, directly addressing endemic societal inequalities and systems of oppression.
With solitude as the new normalized state of being in the world, some artists turn attention to their immediate surroundings and domestic settings, as seen in Samson Young’s desk arrangements, Hadi Fallahpisheh’s drawing of a domestic play scene, and Cecily Brown’s drawings after found images from art history. Still others seek out the natural world as a way of finding tranquility and solace (for example, Amy Sillman’s floral observational drawings, Francesco Clemente’s seascape, Jesse Darling’s image of a forest seen through a window, and Curtis Talwst Santiago’s drawing that reads, “if the Sun Shines, then I’m Fine”).
In Torkwase Dyson’s words, “I’m drawing now because I need to….I feel a chorus in my space of solitude and I’m making because of it.” 100 Drawings from Now amplifies this chorus, showing the myriad ways that drawing can act as a vital connective force, a respite, a demonstration of pain or anger in the face of injustice, and an essential expression of one’s humanity.
100 Drawings from Now is organized by Claire Gilman, Chief Curator, Rosario Güiraldes, Assistant Curator, and Laura Hoptman, Executive Director, with Isabella Kapur, Curatorial Assistant.