16th January 2018 - 16th February 2018
Artists: Adam Farah, Akiko Ban, Alejandra Lopez Martinez, Anne-Marie Creamer, Annette Robinson, Brigitte Mierau, C. Lucy Whitehead, Chris King, Chris Pemberton, Cornelia Parker, David Hepher, Edward Ardizzone, Egle Pilkauskaite, Eileen Hogan, Eleanor Crook, Euan Uglow, Eve Fortnum, Fran Cottell and Marianne Mueller, Frank Auerbach, Gavin Jantjes, Hannah Rae Alton, Hiba Ismail, Ikra Arshad, Izat Arif, Janette Parris, Jeanne Woodcraft, Jennifer N. R. Smith, Jerome, Keara Stewart, Kelly Chorpening, Kimathi Donkor, Marcus Dobbs, Margaret Mee, Matthew Clifton, Matthew Ritchie, Max K. Weaver, Mervyn Peake, Mike Ditchburn, Miraj Ahmed, Nicolas Feldmeyer, Peter Saunders, Phyllida Barlow, Priscila Fiszman, Queenie Clarke, R & F Mo, R.B. Kitaj, Ragna Mouritzen, Rossella Emanuele, Rupert Norfolk, Sandra Lane, Sue Morgan, Susannah Bolton, Tim Ellis, Tony Thatcher, Victor Pasmore, Victoria Sin, Wendy Smith and Yu-Chen Wang
A History of Drawing surveys the practice and teaching of drawing at Camberwell College of Arts over an eighty year period. Featuring the work of over sixty artists, this exhibition celebrates Camberwell’s past, and will shape making and critical debates about drawing for the future.
Throughout Camberwell’s history, the definition of drawing has expanded; from lines on paper to 3D and digital space. The exhibition is characterised by an outward-looking approach as artists have increasingly explored drawing’s uses in fields beyond that of fine art, incorporating new technologies, politics and science. The works in the show include medical illustration, drawing machines, and moving image works, exploring a wide range of issues pertinent to our globally shared present.
The exhibition includes work by historical artists such as Edward Ardizzone, David Hepher and R.B. Kitaj, to recent graduates including Izat Arif, Adam Farah and Jennifer N. R. Smith, and current teaching staff including Miraj Ahmed, Tim Ellis and Janette Parris. The exhibition also features a new large-scale vinyl drawing ‘The Temptation of the Diagram’ by Matthew Ritchie.
A History of Drawing will be accompanied by a new publication and a symposium event about drawing in education, including presentations by Dr Hester Westley (Artists’ Lives Interviewer and Goodison Fellow, National Life Stories, British Library) and Ruth Stiff (Associate Curator, Kew). The speakers will highlight Camberwell’s legacy as a leader in the practice and teaching of drawing, and consider how current practices might shape future generations
The exhibition is curated by Kelly Chorpening, course leader of BA Drawing at Camberwell College of Arts and a practicing artist.
Image credit: The Temptation of the Diagram (detail) by Matthew Ritchie.