Upcoming Exhibitions and Events
International Performance Drawing Series
The International Performance Drawing Series brings together artists from around the world who explore the extents of what drawing is and how it can be understood. The secondary focus of this series is body-based practice, where artists use movement, time, sound and collaboration as means through which they can extend their investigation of drawing.
Performance / Movement Study
Movement Study is a live dance, drawing and performance work where Kristone Capistrano draws the motion of dancers through rapid gestures of ink on paper. Quick calligraphic marks chase the flow of movements of bodies in space. The audience surrounds the artist and dancers, witnessing the live flow of gestures, mark-making, and choreography. Originally conceived during a residency with Emerging Islands, Philippines, the participatory live performance makes an Australian debut at DRAW Space.
Group Show / FABRICATION
DRAW Space are thrilled to present Group Show / FABRICATION, curated by Daniel Press and Sarah Eddowes.
The core idea is how drawing terminology – sketching, line, depth, and layering – compliments the potential of digital fabrication. Artists experiment with human/machine interplays in ways where the line between the two becomes blurred, with Fabrication acting as a prompt to explore themes of the fake, the deceptive, and trickery; while also offering potential for the imagined, fantasies, myth, and storytelling.
Group show / AFTERGLOW
This June, four artists experiment with light as an inscription of the invisible. Light is central to how we see our world, though often light itself, cannot be seen. The artists delve into hidden energies and vibrations to image time, the cosmos, sensory experience and spirit of place.
Group Show / GRAPHITE
This exhibition centres on a medium that is loved by some and hated by others. For those who have spent years using graphite, this show offers an homage to an old friend. Through the work of nine artists, this exhibition showcases graphite’s material potential.
Group Show / DETAIL
Drawing can be described as an activity as much as a medium. The act of drawing is often valued for its characteristics of directness, quickness, simplicity, abbreviation, and immediacy. However, drawing can also be valued for the opposite characteristics, as labour intensive work requiring time and considerable attention to detail.
Studio ARTES / A KIND OF MAGIC
A riot of colour, creativity and individual expression is the only possible outcome of bringing together such a large number of diverse artistic practices. DRAW Space is excited to present A KIND OF MAGIC, a one-week exhibition from 29 February to 3 March. This exhibition is a collaboration between Studio ARTES, an arts centre for adults with disabilities, and DRAW Space gallery.
Curated by Amelia Skelton, Belinda Yee and Rowan Yeomans.
From Japan / RULES FOR DRAWING
Contemporary drawing is often described as a journey without a destination, an open-ended process, an awaited discovery. As such, there are no rules with which to define it. The idea behind this exhibition, of rules for drawing is to present a group of artists who work methodically, systematically, and serially within a narrow set of refined and self-selected parameters.
Curated by Lisa Pang.
DRAWN TOGETHER / The work of DRAW Space volunteers
DRAW Space is delighted to present DRAWN TOGETHER / The work of DRAW Space volunteers. This group show features the work of:
Artemisia Cornett, James Gardiner, Tempe Macgowan, Declan Moore, Katika Schultz and Beatrice Weidner
Drawing Walkshop
Drawing Walkshop, a DRAW Space initiative
11am-5pm Wednesday 17 to Saturday 20 January,
12-5pm Thursday 21 January
The Drawing Walkshop is an opportunity for artists for whom walking is essential to their practice. Come and join us. Attendance is free.
Thresholds: a silent chorus (Ficus macrophylla)
A performative drawing by Julia Davis and Lisa Jones
9-14 January at DRAW Space
Live drawing through the window on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from 7pm
Open to the public on Saturday and Sunday 12-5pm
Recompose / DRAWING WITH THREADS
A group exhibition presenting textiles and textile processes in terms of drawing. This group of artists have in common not only textile-based practices but an interest in exploring the transcendent materiality of used and re-purposed textiles, once recomposed.
Curated by Melinda Hunt and Lisa Pang.
Ron Adams / MAKING A MOULD FOR A MOUNTAIN
A series of ink drawings created over 20 years by artist, Ron Adams.
Further details to come.
Curated by Melinda Hunt and Chelsea Lehmann.
Group Show / TEXTA
Textas, or felt pens, are an ubiquitous medium that many grew up with. These pens encourage a drive to create and a sense of play. Often overlooked as a fine art medium, this exhibit shows how these humble pens can produce bold, forceful artworks that call for attention.
Curated by Daniel Press.
Artists: Quinn Chen, Jake Alexander Cruz, Lorna Grear, Lily Langley, Jacqueline McIntyre, Ngarra, Charmaine Pike, Jeremy Smith and Yuck.
Gary Warner / WORKING DRAWING
Gary Warner is an artist and art worker who teaches experimental drawing at the National Art School, Sydney. Through September 2023, he proposes to utilise DRAW Space as a hybrid workshop, studio, exhibition and event space where, through his daily inhabitation and various activations, the labour of drawing as practice, pedagogy and field of enquiry is made evident. The project will culminate with a closing celebration to exhibit the products of the residency activities.
Sound as Form / PERCUSSIVE DRAWING
DRAW Space has invited percussionist Saskia Shearer to collaborate with visual artist, Belinda Yee, to develop a new work for the gallery. Their research, in preparation for this performance, will focus on the potential of percussive sound to be used as a method of drawing. The hypothesis underpinning this research is the assumption that key characteristics; repetition, tempo, tone, modulation and duration are key attributes of both percussive sound and the drawn line.
Curated by Belinda Yee.
Group Show / MATERIALITY
Materiality entwines several ecological mark-making processes in temporal and spatial dialogue. Each artist navigates an experiential reading of time in the environment, drawing on the textured surfaces of the surrounding matter and material processes.
Curated by Daniel Press.
Artists: Sadhbha Cockburn, Penny Coss, Kristy Gordon, Joyce Lubotzky, Emma Pinsent, Chrystal Rimmer, Brigitta Summers and Mei Zhao
Tania Lou Smith / MOVING FREELY
In Tania Lou Smith's photographic works, part vaudeville, part feminist inquiry, she uses her body and its comedic potential to transgress cultural binaries. The bold colours in Smith's work, the animated figure-in-context and the graphic composition of the images, belie the political and psychological content of the work and the weightier autobiographical themes explored. To initiate this exhibition, Smith was given the provocation - how is your practice drawing? This curatorial reframing enabled Smith to look afresh at her practice while testing and extending the way drawing is understood.
Curated by Belinda Yee.
Locust Jones / MAGIC SAUCE
Usually taking as his impetus the ever-brewing storm of information in which news and current affairs are produced and consumed, on this occasion Locust Jones will draw directly in the space, creating a counterpoint to the news stream. As he describes it, this is a turn towards the primacy and intimacy of drawing as a means of clearing the slate, of purging the toxicity of negative news through the delivery of a durational drawing performance. Using drawn text and imagery as well as spoken words Jones will create a large-scale piece that will be on display until the end of the exhibition. The performance will be accompanied by drumming by musician Tim Bruniges.
Opening night and performance from 5pm, Thursday 1 June. The work will be on display until the end of the exhibition.
Thursday 1 June – Sunday 2 July
Curated by Belinda Yee.