“Drawing is being, is moving, is thinking, is imagining, from the day of one’s birth until that of one’s death” – Domenico De Clario
Many artists find drawing a particularly liberating medium, one in which they are less self-conscious, and can express themselves with directness, honesty and sheer enjoyment.
The Heide Museum of Modern Art is currently exhibiting a collection of recent Australian drawings under the title of Freehand.
The exhibition presents works by 25 contemporary Australian artists for whom drawing is fundamental, and often a daily practice, or whose experiments extend our understanding of this enduring medium.
There is no single theme to this collection. Instead it creates and directs groups of works that are somehow linked in their approach to drawing. It includes representational and figurative pieces, as well as abstract, gestural, geometric and conceptual drawing, and it also incorporates a variety of methods and materials, from pen on paper to soundworks and wall drawings.
Several artists have created new works for the exhibition, from a series of drawings by Del Kathryn Barton and Steven Asquith, to a new project exhibition by Richard Lewer.
There are some very interesting concepts and ideas in this collection, many based around music and sound.
Artist Marco Fusinato has created 10 works on paper entitled Mass Black Implosion, and they are facsimiles of original music scores. He has produced what he calls intense noise by joining up every element within each score until they all meet at one arbitrary point in the piece.
Fusinato has collaborated with Sonic Youth in the past, and continues to work with musicians and musical scores in his art.
Other artists involved in Freehand include Peter Booth, eX de Medici, Marco Fusinato, Mira Gojak, Locust Jones, Newell Harry, Michelle Ussher, Gosia Wlodarczak, Eugene Carchesio, Greg Creek, Domenico De Clario, Matt Hinkley, Joyce Hinterding, Laith McGregor, Alasdair McLuckie, Robert Macpherson, Catherine O’Donnell, Nick Selenitsch, Sandra Selig, Aida Tomescu, Peter Tyndall and Ken Whisson.
The exhibition is on now and will continue until March 6 next year. Admission is $12 for adults and $8 concession. The Heide Museum of Modern Art is open daily 10am-5pm and you can find it at 7 Templestowe Rd Bulleen 3105.
