Lehmann Maupin would like to announce an exhibition of contemporary works on paper. This exhibition brings together a varied group of artists whose drawings function as detailed schemes or plans for other works, or as sites for synthesizing various elements of a larger system. These artists include:
Joshua Abelow
Pedro Barbeito
Ashley Bickerton
Jesse Bransford
Chris Broughton
Bonnie Collura
Casey Cook
Bryan Crockett
Rod Dickinson
Teresita Fernandez
Julian LaVerdiere
Charles Long
Jarbas Lopes
Tony Oursler
Ugo Rondinone
Jeffrey Vallance
Adriana Varejão
Off the Grid is a term used to refer to independence from the electrical power distribution system and, more broadly, to independence from the mainstream in general. In the context of this exhibition it refers to the independent cosmologies that these artists create and in which they work. Their systems include elaborate theories, complex mythologies, and invented histories, some of which are based in reality, some pure fantasy, and others an often ambiguous blend between the two.
These drawings are carefully worked out and often systematic in nature. While they are independent works in and of themselves they also function as blueprints, diagrams, or schematic renderings, from which paintings, sculptures, or other projects can be derived.