The end of 2019 is near, which means it’s time to finally get around to posting documentation of the installation I did at Agitator Gallery in Chicago back in September. My series of colored pencil drawings made with stencil forms have always tended to be rather large. The biggest piece in the series so far tops out at about 6’x8′. So what seemed to be the natural next step with this work was to escape the boundaries imposed by paper and put the work directly on the wall.
The only thing that had prevented me from doing this before was the lack of opportunity. It’s not that easy to find a space that’s interested in having you draw directly on the wall. Most places that display art want to have some chance that it will sell and make them money, and unless you’re willing to sawzall the building to pieces a wall drawing poses an obvious challenge to that business model.
But that all changed when I connected with the good folks at Agitator Gallery and exhibited as a featured artist in their “nook” section. It was well received by most people and I was pretty happy with the results for a first attempt. In the future I would probably consider sanding down the surface of the wall if it was so textured, but at the same time part of what appeals to me about doing these drawings either on the wall or on paper is how it picks up and accentuates the things that are on the wall already. So maybe I’ll just continue to roll with the lumps. Below is a collection of process shots from the install, and a look at the final result.
