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Debra Disman

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EXHBITION

“Drawing Connections” draws to a close

August 10, 2020 By Debra Disman

The exhibition, “Drawing Connections” February 10, 2020 – August 7, 2020 at the 18th Street Arts Center (Airport Campus has drawn (pun intended) to a close. But it lives on in documentation, the video of the show below, the  works of the artists who participated, and the words of those who organized and responded to it.

It has been a joy to participate!

Thank you curator Frida Cano, and the incomparable 18th Street Arts Center!

See the show!

“Drawing Connections aims to trace the invisible networks between a selection of current artists in residence at 18th Street Arts Center, both from our 18th Street campus and our Airport hangar. The show highlights how artists from different backgrounds and whose practices range from traditional to experimental art can dialogue through one of the earliest and most fundamental tools for human expression, drawing. This process of mark-making reveals the initial creative impulse that may later take the form of a video, a performance, a piece of music, an art installation, a painting, or a drawing itself. This curatorial exercise intends to delve into the essence of the multivalent creative practices of the artistic community of 18th Street Arts Center.”

Art historian Susan Power writes:

“Defined in art historical terms by its materials— works on paper in pencil, charcoal, chalk, ink, watercolor, and so on—drawing encompasses a broad spectrum of human activity across time and culture. Ubiquitous and perennial, drawing crosses the boundaries delimiting disciplines and geographies. Drawing connects us over the ages to our earliest human ancestors and our childhood selves. Even the etymology of the word, related to the verb “to draw” and deriving from Old English “to pull,” can have a plethora of meanings—drawing arms and drawing blood are two, which tragically jump to mind during these incredibly challenging times. Within the context of our current crises, the very premise of the 18th Street Art Center exhibition “Drawing Connections” takes on unanticipated significance, as do so many other activities often take for granted in our daily lives. 

The first open-call cross-campus exhibition since 18th Street Art Center expanded its residency program to the Santa Monica Airport locale in 2019, “Drawing Connections” sought (seeks?) not only to showcase the fertile dialogues between work by all their artists in residence, whose practices cover a myriad of approaches, but also to encourage encounters and conversations among the artists and outside communities. Occupying the two wide corridors running the length of the former airplane hangar, the exhibition space invites circulation and exchange, luring artists out of their adjacent studios to mingle with fellow artists, art world professionals and enthusiasts, friends, neighbors and visitors from afar. But the ways we now connect have also undergone a radical shift with the existential threat of the pandemic. The participatory, experiential dimension of “Drawing Connections” was thus short-lived due to the sheltering-at-home orders in effect since mid-March.

The practice of drawing involves making connections—between the physical and the mental, hand or body and mind, concept and form, observation and imagination, perception and thought, interior and exterior. Reflecting on the conceptual underpinnings of the show, the exhibiting artists contributed work that engages with the medium in all its diversity, representing an astounding array of concerns. Together, the multi-generational group of twenty-five artists offers a remarkable cross-section of approaches running the gamut from traditional to experimental, from intimate and personal to interactive and collective. Together, the artworks converse across materials and techniques, complicating any notion of media-specificity, exploding any sense of unity inherent to drawing, and opening it up to endless possibility.”

Featured artists: Deborah Lynn Irmas, Dan S. Wang, Luciana Abait, Debra Disman, Judith Gandel-Golden, Gwen Samuels, Luigia Gio Martelloni, Julia Michelle Dawson, Lola del Fresno, Loren H. Harris-Heller, Joan Wulf, Doni Silver Simons, Pamela Simon-Jensen, Crystal Michaelson, Daniela Schweitzer, M Susan Broussard, Yvette Gellis, Encounter, Rebecca Youssef, Alexandra Dillon, Melinda Smith Altshuler, Nellie King Solomon,  Rebecca Setareh, Ameeta Nanji, and Claudia Concha.

Filed Under: Artist in Residence, ARTISTS, Exhibitions, Work Tagged With: 18th Street Arts Center (Airport Campus), 18th Street campus and our Airport hangar, 3026 Airport Avenue Santa Monica, ARTIST IN RESIDENCE, current artists in residence at 18th Street Arts Center, Drawing, Drawing Connections, EXHBITION, Frida Cano, Local Artists in Residence

Exhbitionista: “Drawing Connections” at 18th Street Arts Center

April 29, 2020 By Debra Disman

DRAWING CONNECTIONS:

Tour the Show!

It has been an honor to participate in “Drawing Connections” held at the Airport Campus of 18th Street Art Center
in the North and South Galleries | 3026 Airport Avenue
February 10 – May 1, 2020


 

“Drawing Connections aims to trace the invisible networks between a selection of current artists in residence at 18th Street Arts Center, both from our 18th Street campus and our Airport hangar. The show highlights how artists from different backgrounds and whose practices range from traditional to experimental art can dialogue through one of the earliest and most fundamental tools for human expression, drawing. This process of mark-making reveals the initial creative impulse that may later take the form of a video, a performance, a piece of music, an art installation, a painting, or a drawing itself. This curatorial exercise intends to delve into the essence of the multivalent creative practices of the artistic community of 18th Street Arts Center.”

See the show!

Two of my works are included. Due to size and camera (cell) restrictions, it was challenging to get images, but here are a few…

There will be an virtual tour coming up in the near future, so please, stay tuned!

Filed Under: Artist in Residence, ARTISTS, Exhibitions, Work Tagged With: 18th Street Arts Center (Airport Campus), 18th Street campus and our Airport hangar, 3026 Airport Avenue Santa Monica, ARTIST IN RESIDENCE, current artists in residence at 18th Street Arts Center, Drawing, Drawing Connections, EXHBITION, Frida Cano, Local Artists in Residence

The Art of the Book: Crafting Our Stories by Hand Exhibition and Culminating Event

February 3, 2020 By Debra Disman

Join Us at Craft Contemporary (Formerly know as the Craft and Folk Art Museum)
Saturday, March 28 | 2 – 4 PM | Free

Artist Debra Disman and participants of our older adults’ workshop will host an outdoor exhibition reception, featuring the artists’ books they created over the course of the series, and facilitate a bookmaking activity for attendees. This program is generously sponsored by Aroha Philanthropies.

Tagged With: Accordion Books, Aroha Philanthropies, ARTIST'S BOOKS, Artists' Book/s, Book, Bookmaking, Books made by Hand, CRAFT AND FOLK ART MUSEUM, Craft Contemporary, EXHBITION, Exhibition of handmade books, Flag Book, Folded and glued Books, Handmade Books, Miracle Mile Museums, Sewn Books, Teaching Artist

“Drawing Connections”

January 12, 2020 By Debra Disman

I am honored to participate in the

 DRAWING CONNECTIONS | Exhibition

at 18th Street Art Center
February 10 – August 14, 2020
North and South Galleries | 3026 Airport Avenue

Exhibition Reception and Artist Open Studios
February 22, 2020 | 5-8 PM

“Drawing Connections aims to trace the invisible networks between a selection of current artists in residence at 18th Street Arts Center, both from our 18th Street campus and our Airport hangar. The show highlights how artists from different backgrounds and whose practices range from traditional to experimental art can dialogue through one of the earliest and most fundamental tools for human expression, drawing. This process of mark-making reveals the initial creative impulse that may later take the form of a video, a performance, a piece of music, an art installation, a painting, or a drawing itself. This curatorial exercise intends to delve into the essence of the multivalent creative practices of the artistic community of 18th Street Arts Center.”

See the show!

Tagged With: 18th Street Arts Center (Airport Campus), 18th Street campus and our Airport hangar, 3026 Airport Avenue Santa Monica, ARTIST IN RESIDENCE, current artists in residence at 18th Street Arts Center, Drawing, Drawing as Artist medium, Drawing Connections, EXHBITION, Frida Cano, Local Artists in Residence

“Offal” is not so Awful

September 5, 2019 By Debra Disman

I am thrilled to be included in the current exhibition at the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, OFFAL

https://www.lamag.org/portfolio_page/offal/

Thank you Steven Wong, Curator, for putting this together.

Thank you Brianna Bakke, Assistant Curator, for your writing.

And, thank you to the whole curatorial and installation staff and any volunteers, for creating such a beautiful, immersive display of all the works.  “Throes of the Body” has never been lit like this before, and it made all the difference.

The detail of the piece could really be seen,

and made accessible to the viewers.

Gratitudes!

Filed Under: ARTISTS, Artists' Books, BOOKS, Exhibitions, New Work, Work Tagged With: ARTIST'S BOOKS, Artists, Curator, CURRENT LA: FOOD, EXHBITION, Handmade Books, LAMAG, Los Angeles, OFFAL, Sculptural Books, Sculpture, The City of Los Angeles, THE DCA, The Los ANgeles Department of Cultural Affairs, The Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery

“OFFAL”

March 11, 2019 By Debra Disman

I am thrilled to be participating in this upcoming show at the wonderful LAMAG:

Offal

August 15 – September 29, 2019
Opening reception: Sunday, August 11, 2 – 5 PM

The Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery presents a show conceived from the subject of offal (ˈôfəl,ˈäfəl), or the culture of consuming innards–a subject matter we hope will not be too awful to stomach.

Tagged With: ARTIST'S BOOKS, Artists, Brianna Bakke, EXHBITION, Handmade Books, LAMAG, Los Angeles, OFFAL, Sculptural Books, Sculpture, Steven Wong, The City of Los Angeles, The Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery

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