CHICAGO, IL.- At the forefront of Conceptual Art since the 1960s, Mel Bochner (American, born 1940) has produced works in almost every mediumpainting, photography, sculpture, prints, and booksyet drawing has always been foundational to his practice. On view at the
Art Institute of Chicago April 23 through August 22, 2022, Mel Bochner Drawings: A Retrospective is the first show of the artists work to use drawing as its principal organizing focus. Nearly 90 works, including several from the museums collection of Bochners earliest drawings, have been brought together to highlight all phases of the artists career.
Spanning traditional techniques on paper in ink, pencil, and charcoal; oil paint on newspaper; wall drawings in powder pigment; and even stones arranged on the floor, Bochners pioneering works helped to redefine traditional boundaries of drawing. Often subversive and imbued with the artists signature sense of humor, they coax the viewer into comprehending what they mean.
The materiality of a drawing is central to its meaning, Bochner has remarked. Every medium reveals something but hides something else. A change of mediums can reveal what was hidden, permitting new thoughts to emerge.
In challenging any rigid definition of drawing, Bochner and his work have insistently asked the question, What isnt a drawing? The exhibition celebrates this question as it explores Bochners central themes of language, numbers, measurement, shape, and visual perception, illuminating his evolving ideas about seriality, temporality, and the slippage between word and image.
Curator Kevin Salatino adds, We are delighted to present the first comprehensive retrospective of Mel Bochners drawing practice, which spans nearly sixty years and draws heavily from his personal collection. Many works in the show have never left the artists studio and will be seen by the public for the very first time.
Mel Bochner Drawings: A Retrospective is curated by the Art Institutes Kevin Salatino, chair and Anne Vogt Fuller and Marion Titus Searle Curator, Prints and Drawings, and Emily Ziemba, director of curatorial administration, Prints and Drawings.