James Drake: Anatomy of Drawing and Space
San Diego Museum of Contemporary Art
2014
The San Diego Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA San Diego) received support for the 2014 publication of the catalogue James Drake: Anatomy of Drawing and Space (Brain Trash), which accompanied an exhibition of the same title.
The exhibition was presented at MCA San Diego and the Blanton Museum at the University of Texas at Austin in the summer and fall of 2014. The book includes essays on the artist as well as images from the installation. The project consisted of a cycle of drawings by sculptor, painter, drawer, photographer, and video artist James Drake, when the artist commissioned himself to make at least one drawing every day for two years. The resulting 1,242 images cull from his personal reservoir of images – wild animals, scientific formulas, personal portraits, and historical figures – all rendered in pencil, ink, and charcoal.
About Drake, chief curator Kathryn Kanjo of MCA San Diego writes, “He defies a ready, singular style. Instead, Drake maps a space of humanity toggling between the languages of physics and poetry, illustrated by images of current events and cultural history.”