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. In the psychologically charged works of Roberta González, such as Nu féminin effrayé (1938) and Nu au visage austère (1957), the human form becomes a site of inner conflict and mystery, her bold, expressive lines imbuing each figure with depth and vulnerability.
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 Form highlights 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.
