Drawing is one of the first things a child does. Drawing is a virtuoso discipline. Drawing can be used for preliminary study. Drawing can be quick, slow, controlled, expressive, sketchy, hermetic, illuminating, direct, technical, observational, fantastical, open, intimate, detached and so many other things.
‘The Bottom Line’ shows various aspects of drawing as a form of contemporary art: from abstract to figurative, from small format to large, from rapid sketches to slow, large-scale projects and from drawing as film to drawing as performance. Its range of content stretches from personal diary to politically significant, from self-portrait to social group portrait. Some drawings will be done specially for this exhibition. A few of the artists will do them in situ.
The participating artists: Adel Abdessemed, Tomma Abts, Francis Alÿs, William Anastasi, Anna Barriball, Marc Bauer, Thomas Bogaert, Monica Bonvicini, Michaël Borremans, Andrea Bowers, Manon de Boer, Thierry De Cordier, Edith Dekyndt, Johan De Wilde, Tacita Dean, Trisha Donnelly, Ellen Gallagher, Andrea Galiazzo, Nikolaus Gansterer, Julian Göthe, Roni Horn, Henri Jacobs, Mark Lombardi, Nick Mauss, Mark Manders, Paul McCarthy, Lucy McKenzie, Julie Mehretu, Matt Mullican, Marc Nagtzaam, Jockum Nordström, Henrik Olesen, Gabriel Orozco, Raymond Pettibon, Chloe Piene, Carol Rama, Robin Rhode, Salam Atta Sabri, Thomas Schütte, Mithu Sen, Jim Shaw, Paul Sietsema, Alexandre Singh, Bart Stolle, Elly Strik, Ante Timmermans, Rosemarie Trockel, Ignacio Uriarte, Erik Van Lieshout, Anne-Mie Van Kerckhoven, Sandra Vasquez de la Horra, Jorinde Voigt and Kemang Wa Lehulere.
Anne-Mie VAN KERCKHOVEN (AMVK) 1951, Antwerp, Belgium
In picture books of religious old masterpieces held by the Louvre, it was particularly the portrayal of hands that inspired AMVK to do these drawings. She was also once struck by an article about how important hands are in contacts with the demented. Hands can connect, help, order, offer calm and give warmth. But they can also destroy. Images of the present crisis in and around Europe are shocking. Her outrage and desire for positive counter-images prompted AMVK to put down on paper the results of her personal reflections. They are coloured by mysterious codes from her unconscious, by theoretical quotes, and by images from art history that are rooted in the collective memory, though the keys to the comprehension of their message have been lost. This is a reaction to Islam, which considers any depiction of Allah as blasphemy and in its recent excesses has taken up an extremely hostile position towards the Christian tradition and our Western culture.