THE DRAWING CENTER INC

EXPRESSING THE UNIVERSALITY OF DRAWING, THE DRAWING CENTER PRESENTS EXTRAORDINARY WORKS ON PAPER FROM A WIDE RANGE OF TRADITIONS. EXHIBITIONS HAVE FEATURED DRAWINGS BY TATTOO ARTISTS, CHEFS, NOVELISTS, AND PRISONERS ALONGSIDE VISUAL ARTISTS, AS WELL AS SIGNIFICANT INTERNATIONAL COLLECTIONS OF WORKS ON PAPER. THIS EXPANSIVE VISION-COMBINED WITH THE SCHOLARLY RIGOR AND EXHIBITION STANDARDS OF MUCH LARGER MUSEUMS-MAKES THE DRAWING CENTER A SINGULAR INSTITUTION IN NEW YORK CITY AND INTERNATIONALLY. FOUNDED IN SOHO IN 1977 AND FIRST HOUSED IN A GROUND-FLOOR WAREHOUSE AT 137 GREENE STREET, THE DRAWING CENTER MOVED TO ITS CURRENT HOME AT 35 WOOSTER STREET IN 1987. AFTER NEARLY FIFTY YEARS, IT CONTINUES TO SERVE AS A BELOVED NEIGHBORHOOD INSTITUTION AND A GLOBAL LEADER IN THE STUDY AND CELEBRATION OF DRAWING. IN THE PAST YEAR, THE DRAWING CENTER ENGAGED INDIVIDUALS OF ALL AGES BOTH ON-SITE IN SOHO AND OFF-SITE IN VARIOUS PUBLIC AND EDUCATIONAL SETTINGS. THROUGH A WIDE RANGE OF PROGRAMMING, DIVERSE AUDIENCES WERE GIVEN THE OPPORTUNITY TO EXPLORE THE MEDIUM OF DRAWING AS PRIMARY, DYNAMIC, AND RELEVANT TO CONTEMPORARY CULTURE, THE FUTURE OF ART, AND CREATIVE THOUGHT. EXHIBITIONS PRESENTED AT THE DRAWING CENTER IN THE PAST YEAR INCLUDED: THE WAY I SEE IT: SELECTIONS FROM THE KAWS COLLECTION; JOHN ZORN: HERMETIC CARTOGRAPHY; ERICKA BECKMAN: POWER OF THE SPIN, AND IN THE MEDIUM OF LIFE: THE DRAWINGS OF BEAUFORD DELANEY. THIS YEAR, WE RELEASED THREE NEW CATALOGS THROUGH OUR DRAWING PAPERS PUBLICATION SERIES AND SERVED CLOSE TO 34,000 INDIVIDUALS THROUGH OUR EXHIBITIONS AND PROGRAMS. THE WAY I SEE IT: SELECTIONS FROM THE KAWS COLLECTION, ON VIEW OCTOBER 10, 2024 THROUGH JANUARY 19, 2025, FEATURED MORE THAN 350 ARTWORKS CHOSEN BY THE ARTIST KAWS FROM HIS VAST PERSONAL COLLECTION OF OVER 3,000 WORKS ON PAPER BY SOME 500 ARTISTS. THE WAY I SEE IT CONTINUED THE DRAWING CENTER'S TRADITION OF EXHIBITING DRAWINGS FROM OUTSTANDING PUBLIC AND PRIVATE COLLECTIONS, AND OFFERED AN UNPRECEDENTED GLIMPSE INTO THE ARTISTIC INSPIRATIONS AND INTERESTS OF ONE OF TODAY'S MOST POPULAR CONTEMPORARY ARTISTS. KNOWN PREDOMINANTLY AS A GROUNDBREAKING FIGURE IN NEW YORK'S AVANT-GARDE AND EXPERIMENTAL MUSIC SCENES, JOHN ZORN HAS LONG BEEN CELEBRATED FOR HIS RADICAL INNOVATIONS IN MUSIC. HOWEVER, HIS ABSTRACT DRAWINGS-A PRIVATE LANGUAGE OF SYMBOLS AND NOTATIONS-HAVE REMAINED A CLOSELY GUARDED SECRET. ON VIEW FEBRUARY 7 THROUGH MAY 11, 2025, HERMETIC CARTOGRAPHY REVEALED A NEW DIMENSION OF ZORN'S ARTISTIC PRACTICE BY SHOWCASING WORKS ON PAPER THAT SPAN SEVEN DECADES OF HIS VISIONARY ENGAGEMENT WITH MARK-MAKING, IMPROVISATION, AND THE ESOTERIC. PRESENTED CONCURRENTLY WITH HERMETIC CARTOGRAPHY, POWER OF THE SPIN FEATURED THE WORK OF ERICKA BECKMAN, A FILMMAKER WHO CAME TO PROMINENCE IN THE LATE 1970S. BECKMAN IS CONSIDERED A KEY FIGURE OF THE PICTURES GENERATION, A GROUP OF AMERICAN CONCEPTUAL ARTISTS WHO APPROPRIATED IMAGES FROM POPULAR CULTURE FOR THE PURPOSE OF CULTURAL CRITIQUE. IN SUMMER 2025, THE DRAWING CENTER PRESENTED AN EXHIBITION FEATURING WORKS ON PAPER BY THE AMERICAN ARTIST BEAUFORD DELANEY (1901-1979). ENTITLED IN THE MEDIUM OF LIFE: THE DRAWINGS OF BEAUFORD DELANEY, IT WAS THE FIRST COMPREHENSIVE DELANEY EXHIBITION AT A NEW YORK MUSEUM IN OVER THREE DECADES, AND THE FIRST-EVER EXHIBITION DEVOTED TO DRAWING-THE MEDIUM THAT WAS CENTRAL TO HIS OEUVRE. IN THE MEDIUM OF LIFE INCLUDED APPROXIMATELY 90 DRAWINGS, GOUACHES, PASTELS AND NOTEBOOK SKETCHES MARKING DISTINCT PERIODS OF DELANEY'S CAREER. ALL OF THE DRAWING CENTER'S EXHIBITIONS AND PROGRAMS ARE PRESENTED TO THE PUBLIC, FREE OF CHARGE, THANKS TO A MULTI-YEAR GRANT FROM THE CY TWOMBLY FOUNDATION. IN THE PAST YEAR, APPROXIMATELY 34,000 INDIVIDUALS VISITED THE WAY I SEE IT: SELECTIONS FROM THE KAWS COLLECTION; JOHN ZORN: HERMETIC CARTOGRAPHY; ERICKA BECKMAN: POWER OF THE SPIN, AND IN THE MEDIUM OF LIFE: THE DRAWINGS OF BEAUFORD DELANEY. THE DRAWING CENTER HAS CONTINUED ITS EXPANSION OF ITS PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT EFFORTS THROUGH ITS EDUCATION AND COMMUNITY PROGRAMS, WITH OVER 3,000 AUDIENCE PARTICIPANTS ENGAGING WITH PUBLIC EXHIBITION-BASED PROGRAMS, ARTIST AND CURATOR CONVERSATIONS, DRAWING WORKSHOPS, EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS, AND GROUP TOURS. ITS SCHOOL PROGRAMS SERVED APPROXIMATELY 1,800 K-12 PUBLIC SCHOOL STUDENTS, INCLUDING 25 STUDENTS FROM PS 42 BENJAMIN ALTMAN SCHOOL; 25 STUDENTS FROM CHELSEA CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION HIGH SCHOOL; 25 MIDDLE AND HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS FROM THE LEXINGTON SCHOOL FOR THE DEAF; AND 25 STUDENTS FROM PS 347 THE AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE & ENGLISH LOWER SCHOOL. THE DRAWING CENTER'S ONGOING LANGUAGE ACCESS INITIATIVE PROVIDED 12 DRAWING WORKSHOP PROGRAMS TO DEAF AUDIENCES AND SPANISH LANGUAGE SPEAKERS. THE DRAWING CENTER'S PUBLICATION PROGRAM ENABLES THE PRODUCTION OF IMPORTANT AND INFLUENTIAL NEW SCHOLARSHIP ON DRAWING. ALL EXHIBITIONS ARE ACCOMPANIED BY AN EDITION OF DRAWING PAPERS, AN AFFORDABLY PRICED PUBLICATION THAT ATTRACTS A WIDE AUDIENCE, FROM STUDENTS AND FELLOW ARTISTS TO CRITICS, COLLECTORS, AND SCHOLARS. DRAWING PAPERS INCLUDE REPRODUCTIONS OF ARTISTS' WORKS, ARTIST STATEMENTS, COMMISSIONED ESSAYS, AND INTERPRETIVE TEXTS. DRAWING PAPERS ARE AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE AT THE DRAWING CENTER'S ONSITE AND ONLINE BOOKSTORES, AND IN COMMERCIAL BOOKSTORES. THE DRAWING CENTER PARTNERS WITH THE ONLINE PUBLISHER ISSUU.COM TO OFFER ALL 150+ OF ITS PUBLICATIONS IN A READABLE FORMAT FOR FREE ONLINE. TO DATE, MORE THAN 2 MILLION PEOPLE HAVE READ OUR PUBLICATIONS ONLINE. IN THE PAST YEAR, THE DRAWING CENTER PUBLISHED IN-HOUSE DRAWING PAPERS PUBLICATIONS FOR THE WAY I SEE IT: SELECTIONS FROM THE KAWS COLLECTION; JOHN ZORN: HERMETIC CARTOGRAPHY, AND IN THE MEDIUM OF LIFE: THE DRAWINGS OF BEAUFORD DELANEY. EACH PUBLICATION FEATURES FULL-COLOR ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE ARTWORKS INCLUDED IN THE EXHIBITIONS, ALONG WITH ESSAYS BY TDC CURATORS, ARTISTS, AND SCHOLARS. THE DRAWING CENTER PRESENTS A VARIETY OF PUBLIC PROGRAMS, INCLUDING GALLERY TALKS, LECTURES, READINGS, PERFORMANCES, AND PANELS THAT PROVIDE NEW INSIGHTS INTO THE WORK ON VIEW IN OUR EXHIBITIONS. THIS PAST YEAR, THE DRAWING CENTER ORGANIZED PUBLIC PROGRAMS TO ACCOMPANY THE WAY I SEE IT: SELECTIONS FROM THE KAWS COLLECTION; JOHN ZORN: HERMETIC CARTOGRAPHY; ERICKA BECKMAN: POWER OF THE SPIN, AND IN THE MEDIUM OF LIFE: THE DRAWINGS OF BEAUFORD DELANEY. THESE PROGRAMS ENGAGED OVER 3,000 AUDIENCE PARTICIPANTS AND FEATURED THE PARTICIPATION OF ARTISTS, WRITERS, AND CRITICS INCLUDING: ERIK PARKER, LEE QUIONES, SEAN CORCORAN, JANE DICKSON, TONY OURSLER, VALRIE ROUSSEAU, AND MATTHEW HIGGS, AMONG OTHERS. SELECT PROGRAMS WERE RECORDED AND MADE AVAILABLE TO ALL FUTURE AUDIENCES TO VIEW, FOR FREE, THROUGH OUR WEBSITE. OTHER PUBLIC PROGRAMS INCLUDE ARTIST CONVERSATIONS, AND TDC'S POPULAR DRAWNOW! WORKSHOP SERIES.