Hauser & Wirth

Drawings spread on the living room floor of David Smith's house, Bolton Landing, New York, September 1959. Photo: David Smith. The Estate of David Smith, New York. © 2024 The Estate of David Smith / Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY

Drawing in Space: David Smith 'No One Thing’

  • Mon 26 February 2024
  • 4 – 5.30 pm
Register

‘I make 300 to 400 large drawings a year ... These drawings are studies for sculpture, sometimes what sculpture is, sometimes what sculpture can never be. Sometimes they are atmospheres from which sculptural form is unconsciously selected during the labor process of producing form. Then again they may be amorphous floating direct statements in which I am the subject, and the drawing is the act. They are all statements of my identity and come from the constant work stream. I title these drawings with the numerical noting of month day and year. I never intend a day to pass without asserting my identity; my work records my existence.’ —David Smith

Join us for a community drawing session for young adults age 18-25 within the exhibition ‘No One Thing. David Smith, Late Sculptures’, currently on view at Hauser & Wirth's 22nd Street gallery.

Though predominantly known for his works in sculpture, painting and drawing remained integral to what David Smith called his ’work stream’. He embraced a holistic attitude toward artmaking and dismissed the idea of a separation between mediums. Inspired by the artist's embrace of an interdisciplinary practice, participants of all skill levels will be guided through observational and figure drawing exercises within the exhibition.

This program will begin with an introduction by curator Alexis Lowry, who will provide context to the exhibition and David Smith's artistic practice. Clothed figure models will then pose alongside the sculptures on view for a series of observational and figure drawing exercises, inviting participants to draw connections between and responses to Smith’s formal considerations of movement, positive and negative space, weight, and balance.

David Smith, 'Gondola II' (1964) and untitled paintings, Bolton Landing, New York, 1964. Photo: David Smith. The Estate of David Smith, New York. © 2024 The Estate of David Smith / Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY

'Drawing in Space' is an in-gallery drawing event open to young adults aged 18-25. No previous art-making experience is needed. This event is free, but reservations are required due to limited capacity.Please be advised that photographs will be taken at this event for use on the Hauser & Wirth website, social media and in other marketing materials.

About the exhibition, 'No One Thing: David Smith. Late Sculptures'
David Smith (1906–1965), one of the most influential and innovative artists of the 20th Century, was at his most experimental and prolific in the last five years of his life. During this period, he deployed welding to newly monumental ends, integrated open space into his arrangement of planar forms and animated sculptural surfaces with paint in color combinations that transcended logic. These innovations transgressed the norm, solidified his legacy and influenced generations of artists to come. ‘No One Thing: David Smith. Late Sculptures’ presents seven of the artist’s most important sculptures from these final years.Smith once said, ‘My reality… is not one thing; it is a chain of interlocking visions.’ Though he often grouped objects together with series titles, he worked on multiple series simultaneously and understood each sculpture as it ‘related to my past works, the three or four works in process and the work yet to come.’ He also emphasized the importance of painting in his practice, noting that, historically, sculpture is often painted. For Smith each planar surface had its “own properties in form as well as in color, and then color adds another challenge.” Drawn from signature series such as the Zigs, Primo Pianos, and Gondolas, and including important sculptures that were not serially designated, the works on view evidence the artist’s sustained engagement with materiality, form, and surface. In their sheer variety, Smith’s late works are nevertheless united by a single shared characteristic: blazing, liberated inventiveness.


About the facilitator
Kelly Oh has been an active member in the arts education world in New York City since 2009. Working with a diverse population, she has taught youths as a high school art teacher in NYC public schools and a teaching-artist in community-based cultural organizations such as Dedalus Foundation. Currently, she is an Associate Professor in the Art & Design Education department at Pratt Institute. She teaches courses in studio practices, theories and pedagogy, and supervises Saturday Art School. She also teaches painting to Pratt Young Scholars, a K-12 scholarship program at Pratt Institute. She is a tireless advocate for stronger arts programs for youths and believes that art should be relevant and accessible to individuals of all age groups from all different backgrounds.

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