The Fragile Power of Drawing, L’AiR Artists International Residency, Paris, France 2021
“Asymmetrical dress” is a series of self-portraits I made while studying the work of French artist Chana Orloff (1888-1968). I used my body and its relationship to drawing to make a series of staged photographs and prints featuring a one-armed dress.
drawing, sculpture, photograph
L’AiR Arts Residency and exhibiton generously funded by the:
Exhibition statement:
The Fragile Power of Drawing- LAiR Arts International Residency
For over a century now, artists from all over the world have been flocking to Paris for inspiration. Those seeking to satisfy their passion for drawing attended the independent art academies of Montparnasse, which offered intellectual and artistic freedom from the constraints imposed by the fine art schools of the time.
Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, artists from abroad also spent countless hours studying works held in museum collections. Chaïm Soutine's still lifes were influenced by the works of Chardin and Rembrandt in the Louvre, while its Egyptian collection inspired Modigliani and Zadkine; Marc Chagall’s struggles for modernity drew on Delacroix’s art.
An essential part of the production process for many artists, drawing was historically overshadowed by the monumental mediums of sculpture and painting. Yet in the context of contemporary art, drawing is re-emerging as a powerful medium of its own.
Our Drawing Research Residency seeks to pursue this tradition of drawing research: participants in the 2020/21 residency were invited to explore the online collections of three Paris museums and make a drawing or series of drawings inspired by any work or group of works they choose. The studio-museums of the sculptors Ossip Zadkine, Chana Orloff and Antoine Bourdelle contain many treasures reflecting the richness and variety of the Ecole de Paris, that may be freely reinterpreted from a contemporary point of view. In the spirit of the experimental art academies and ateliers of Montparnasse, all drawing styles, techniques and materials were permitted, in dialogue with the past.
- Rahma Khazam