| | | | | | | | William Christenberry
5 Cents - Demopolis, Alabama, 1988
Graphite on paper
12.7 x 17.78 cm
© 2017 William Christenberry. Pace/MacGill, New York | | | | | | Drawings | | | | June 30 – September 2, 2017 | | | | Opening reception: Thursday, 29 June, 5-9 pm | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | William Christenberry
Memory Form, 1998
Lithograph
Ed. 19/20
76 x 96 cm
© 2017 William Christenberry. Pace/MacGill, New York | | | | | | The Exhibition takes a closer look at how drawing formed a foundational part of Christenberry's artistic process although it is a relatively unknown and underestimated aspect of his work.
Born in 1936 in Tuscaloosa, AL, Christenberry started his artistic career by studying painting at the University of Alabama where he received both his BFA and MA. Although he is most well known for his haunting color photographs of landscapes, signs, and abandoned structures in rural Alabama, he continued making paintings and sculptures throughout his life. He also taught painting and drawing at the Corcoran School of Arts in Washington D.C..
"My work as an artist includes drawing, painting, sculpture, and photography. Each medium is a part of the total expression of my deep feelings about where I’m from, and about how I care about how we, as human beings, leave our touches, positively and negatively, on the things around us." Every piece of Christenberry’s art seems to be connected to a story or one of his experiences. The organic forms in this exhibition are barely recognizable as any particular plant.
The gestural movement, sparse lines and sure strokes of ink forms visible on paper made with pens, brushes and even chopsticks bear witness to Christenberry’s expressive visual canon. All of these elements carry the study of time and memory that are visible throughout his career. | | | | | | | | | William Christenberry
Tree, 2003 (January 28)
Ink on Paper
76 x 55,8 cm
© 2017 William Christenberry. Pace/MacGill, New York | | | | | | Besides the "Tree" paintings, Artworks such as "Memory Form", "5 Cents" or "Abandoned House in Field" (graphite/watercolor on paper) build a direct connection to his photographic work. Christenberry visited the same places year for year during his regular trips to Alabama to takepictures. From these colour photographs came paintings and drawings and, later, also threedimensional miniature constructions. By repeatedly picturing the same basic shapes and structures over and over again Christenberry recorded the slow shifts in the environments he knew.
"I find beauty in things that are old and changing, like we all are changing," he stated in 1982 during an interview. “I find old things more beautiful than the new, and I go back to them every year until sooner or later they are gone. They have blown away, burned, fallen down or ... disappeared." | | | | | | | | | William Christenberry
Abandoned House in Field, 1988
Graphite on paper
12.7 x 17.78 cm
© 2017 William Christenberry. Pace/MacGill, New York | | | | | | unsubscribe here
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