Drawing is more than just the preparatory act for painting.
The Burnaby Arts Council is celebrating the art of drawing in its next exhibition, Drawn: Exploring the Line.
The exhibition runs March 7 to 28 at the Deer Lake Gallery, with an opening reception set for Saturday, March 7 from 2 to 4 p.m.
The exhibition features the work of Aimée Henny Brown, Anson Aguirre Firth and Teodora Zamfirescu.
A press release from the gallery notes that, within Western art history, drawing is often read as the preparatory act of painting rather than as a medium in its own right.
"This exhibition reflects the increasing presence of drawing within Western contemporary art and investigates the act and object of drawing," the release notes. "Burnaby Arts Council invites you to consider drawing through a wide lens: drawing as the mark and trace of the body moving in space, drawing as the inscription and mark-making of the hand on surfaces, drawing as a gestural process, and of course drawing as the line of the unconscious."
The three artists come from diverse backgrounds.
Brown was born and raised in Western Canada, completed her undergraduate degree in fine arts at the University of Alberta and her master's in fine and media arts at NSCAD University in 2007. She's currently the artist in residence with the Ken Harrison Arts Council.
The release notes that Brown's drawings of houses, barns and other structures "fantastically spin in a decontextualized space not dissimilar to how flashes of memory are experienced."
Firth is originally from Mexico City and is studying at Emily Carr University of Art and Design. His drawings have been shown internationally.
"In Firth's work, eyes, mouths and chins are subtracted from their contexts and become fragmented points of expression," the release says.
Zamfirescu was born in Transylvania and moved to Vancouver, where she earned her bachelor's degree in fine arts at Simon Fraser University and in art education at UBC. Her work "collides the physical qualities of a place with the emotional, nostalgic and imagined sense of place," the release notes.
Deer Lake Gallery is at 6584 Deer Lake Ave. It's open Tuesdays to Saturdays from noon to 4 p.m., and admission is free. Check out www.burnabyartscouncil.org or email [email protected] for more details.
