CCS Bard Galleries, New York
June 2021
June 26–October 17, 2021 In celebration of its 30th anniversary, CCS Bard presents the exhibition, Closer to Life: Drawings and Works on Paper in the Marieluise Hessel Collection (2021) Marieluise Hessel, who cofounded the Center for Curatorial Studies in 1990, spent a lifetime collecting art. The works presented are drawn from the span of four decades of Hessel's life spent in Germany, Mexico, and the United States, comprising over 75 drawings and works on paper. These collection highlights were selected for their particular resonance on issues of gender, sexuality, race, and politics. Revisiting different artistic periods and contexts, the exhibition draws out both contrasts and comparisons between artists, modes of representation, and the continuing vitality of drawing (and paper) as an artistic medium. The title of the exhibition is suggestive of the intimacy of the act of drawing itself, a theme amply developed throughout with artists as diverse as Cecily Brown, Nicole Eisenman, Rashid Johnson, Sigmar Polke, Arnulf Rainer, Nancy Spero, and Germán Venegas. As a reflection of Hessel’s collection and geographic trajectory of her life, from early years in post-war Germany to residence in Mexico City and on to New York City and the United States in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the exhibition is organized around these three spheres of influence that characterize the collection from origins to the present day. The range—and eclecticism of the collection—is represented by more than drawing per se, and includes collages, prints, artist books, and special editions. The catalogue, Closer to Life, has been published to accompany the exhibition. The publication highlights an approach to drawing as a primary medium, not as documentation or as a study for works in other media, but as a fragile medium used to explore intimate subject matters. Learn more at CCS Bard Galleries.