The Mark is fundamental to the art process. From brush on canvas, pencil to paper, any medium to any ground the mark is the record of the hand and ultimately the intention of the artist. The drawing mark conveys emotion and movement, concept and symbol as it exists in space and time. Marks may be bold and clearly state intention or so subtle that the concept is only percieved by the subconscious.
In this show, MARK ME: Group Drawing Show curated by Ford Crull, the artists explore the different motivations for their mark-making. Stephanie Brody-Lederman and Philip Tsiaras each tell a story with both the gesture of ink wash and the suggestion of recognizable forms creating an oneiric world, Johan Wahlstrom and Anthony Haden-Guest rely on the graphic drama of black and white to depict ideas and thoughts, Marianne van Lent, Mark Sheinkman and Gregory Crane create all-encompassing environments from marks that envelope space and time and Joseph Nechvatal allows forms to emerge from a whirlwind of computer generated and automatic marking like ghosts from chaos. The artist's mark is the first documentation of the personal interior world as it emerges into consciousness, a culmination of the creative impulse and the record of a universal yet unique experience.
Stephanie Brody-Lederman's mixed media work can be found in many important museum, university and public collections including the Modern Museum of Art and the Cooper Hewitt Museum in New York City. She is a recipient of many grants including the New York Foundation for the Arts, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, Artist Space, Percentfor Arts, S.O.S., Hassam and Speicher Award, Ariana Foundation for the Arts Grant and Percent for Art Grant.
Gregory Crane's work can be found in many important museum and public collections including the M. I. T. List Visual Art Center, Museum of the City of New York and the Orlando Museum as well as numerous international and national corporate and private collections. Mr. Crane teaches at the School of Visual Arts and lives and works in New York City and Red Hook, NY.
Anthony Haden-Guest has had a long career as a journalist, culture critic, writer, poet, cartoonist, animator and artist whose work has been published in the Financial Times, Vanity Fair, The New York Observer, Paris Review, Esquire, GQ (UK) and New York Magazine.
Joseph Nechvatal has worked since 1986 with electronic visual information, computers and computer-robotics using viral programming as a stratagem to create images. Dr. Nechvatal has been the recipient of numerous grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, New York Foundation for the Arts, Pollack-Krasner Foundation and multiple artist residencies in France. Joseph Nechvatal is currently the Parisian correspondent for Hyperallergic.
Mark Sheinkman's paintings, drawings and prints are in many national and international museum and university collections including Metropolitan Museum of Art, Modern Museum of Art, The Whitney Museum and the National gallery in Washington D.C. as well as the Yale university Art Gallery and the Hood Museum in Dartmouth College.
Philip Tsiaras works in a great range of media--painting, photography, glass, ceramic, and bronze and has been the recipient of many national prizes: The American Academy Award for Poetry, The Thomas Watson Fellowship, New York State C.A.P.S grant, and two N.E.A. National Endowment Grants for Arts.
Marianne Van Lent's paintings have been exhibited in the United States and Europe and inhabit many public and private collections.Van Lent has received Fellowships and Grants from Cornell University, NYSCA, The Lower Manhattan Cultural Council Residency Grant, NYSCA Community Teaching Grant Greene Co. NY, MTA, Arts for Transit, H.A.N.D.S., Bronx, NY, Percent for Art, CityArts Inc, New York, Artists Space, New York and Creative Time, New York.
Johan Wahlstrom: A long time musician who toured with Ian Hunter, Graham Parker and Mick Ronson, Johan Wahlstrom took up painting in the early 2000s and has had numerous shows throughout Europe and the United States.
Ford Crull is a painter and curator whose artwork is in important museum and public collections including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Brooklyn Museum, the National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., Dayton Art Institute, and the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts (Al), as well as numerous international and national corporate and private collections.