Gesture and From Selected Drawings from the 20th and 21st Century

12 June - 26 September 2025
  • Gesture and Form: Selected Drawings from the 20th and 21st Century explores the act of mark-making as a means of expression, innovation, and experimentation. Drawing has long served as a space where artists develop ideas, challenge conventions, and push the boundaries of material and technique. In L’aubade: Études de nus allongés (Dora Maar)(1941), Pablo Picasso captures the essence of the human figure with a confident economy of line, distilling movement and emotion into a few essential strokes. Francis Picabia’s Untitled(1927–1928) similarly conveys a sense of immediacy, layering classical iconography with contemporary themes.

     

    Expanding on these explorations, Sol LeWitt’s Squiggly Brushstrokes (1997) and Irregular Grid (2001) approach drawing as a systematic yet dynamic process, creating rhythm through repetition and variation. Sam Gilliam’s Untitled (It’s Yellow) (1973) challenges conventional notions of the medium by incorporating the materiality of painting and printmaking into a single surface, allowing color and texture to merge. These works emphasize the fluidity between disciplines, reinforcing drawing’s capacity to exist beyond traditional definitions. The selection also includes Felipe Baeza’s Beyond the Vessel (2024), a composition layered with monoprint, pochoir, and collage techniques. Baeza's work embodies a sense of transformation, his fragmented figures appearing in a constant state of becoming, interwoven with themes of resilience and identity.

     

    Continuing this dialogue into contemporary practice, La Chola Poblete reclaims and reinterprets portraiture through a lens of cultural history and personal narrative, incorporating drawing as a means of subversion and reclamation. In bridging early modern works with post-war experimentation and contemporary reinvention, Gesture and Formhighlights drawing as both a foundational practice and a site of radical innovation. Each artist in this selection demonstrates the versatility of the medium, revealing its ability to capture not just form, but gesture, thought, and the complexities of human experience.

  • Julio González, Les saules (The Willow Trees), 1927 (circa)

    Julio González

    Les saules (The Willow Trees), 1927 (circa)
    Pen, Indian ink, and gouache on paper
    2 7/8 x 4 5/8 in (7.4 x 11.7 cm)
  • Francis Picabia, Untitled, 1927-1928

    Francis Picabia

    Untitled, 1927-1928
    Watercolor and Indian ink on paper
    12 5/8 x 9 7/8 in (32 x 25 cm)
  • Henri Matisse, Feuillage d'un arbre, 1941

    Henri Matisse

    Feuillage d'un arbre, 1941
    Pen and India ink on paper
    8 1/8 x 10 3/8 in (20.5 x 26.5 cm)
  • Pablo Picasso, L'aubade: Études de nus allongés (Dora Maar), 1941

    Pablo Picasso

    L'aubade: Études de nus allongés (Dora Maar), 1941
    Pencil on paper
    8 1/4 x 10 5/8 in (21.1 x 27 cm)
  • Sol LeWitt, Irregular Grid, 2001

    Sol LeWitt

    Irregular Grid, 2001
    Gouache on paper
    45 1/8 × 42 1/2 in (114.6 x 108 cm)
  • Sol LeWitt, Squiggly Brushstrokes, 1997

    Sol LeWitt

    Squiggly Brushstrokes, 1997
    Gouache on paper
    15 x 11 1/4 in (38.1 x 28.6 cm)
  • La Chola Poblete, Untitled, 2023

    La Chola Poblete

    Untitled, 2023
    Watercolor and ink on paper
    29 7/8 x 22 in (76 x 56 cm)
  • Felipe Baeza, Beyond the Vessel, 2024

    Felipe Baeza

    Beyond the Vessel, 2024
    Watercolor monoprint, photolitho, screenprint, pochoir, and collage on paper
    16 x 12 in (40.6 x 30.5 cm)
    Edition of 20, plus 10 AP
  • Nelo Vinuesa, The Clouds of Venus XI, 2024

    Nelo Vinuesa

    The Clouds of Venus XI, 2024
    Oil on paper
    63 x 47 1/4 in (160 x 120 cm)
  • Nelo Vinuesa, The Clouds of Venus III, 2024

    Nelo Vinuesa

    The Clouds of Venus III, 2024
    Oil on paper
    63 x 47 1/4 in (160 x 120 cm)