A Parliament of Lines (Pier Art Centre, Orkney)

Aspects of contemporary drawing in Scottish Art

Pier Arts Centre, Orkney
30 March - 8 June 2013

Artists:

Charles Avery, Layla Curtis, Nathalie De Briey, Moyna Flannigan, Luca Frei, Euan Gray, Sam Griffin, Marie Harnett, Callum Innes, Alan Johnston, Andrew Mackenzie, David Shrigley, Graham Todd, Ainslie Yule

Drawing has traditionally been at the core of artistic practice, and more fundamentally, the act of making a gesture or a mark on a surface or substrate is an activity universally experienced from idle doodle to a complex architectural blueprint.

This exhibition explores drawing and its role in contemporary art practice, questioning the boundaries of what constitutes a drawing and the materials that might be employed in that pursuit, including painting, photography and animation. 

Through five broad themes - the body, architecture/landscape, minimal abstraction, reproduction/ photography and sculptural investigation - the fifteen selected artists have created new work especially for the exhibition. 

The artists, some established, others of a younger generation, bring a personal and particular approach to the possibilities of drawing, each following a distinctive and individual line of inquiry, informed not only by their Scottish training but by their engagement in the wider, international visual arts arena.