O n  B i g  D r a w i n g s

making art    in times of rapid change | 

       an online discourse

On Big Drawings brings together 19 artists whose work celebrates the medium of drawing 

as a contemporary form of expression. Drawings are often thought of as intimate, 

representative works that are preparation for a finished piece, 

but here drawings are presented in the expanded field of current art practice, 

and as art in their own right. Each featured artist has made an outstanding 

contribution to an expanded notion of drawing, creating work that engenders 

a dialogue about drawing across media boundaries, while often engaging 

with large-scale works created for specific spaces or projects. 

Many of the artists also bring other kinds of innovative approaches to drawing, 

working small scale, in series, non-traditionally, through projection, 

mapping or tracing, or three-dimensionally, and also through performance, 

video, and animation. Although some of the works chosen and discussed 

are predominantly large-scale, site specific, and immersive, the main emphasis 

of the project is on the challenging of traditional notions of what 'drawings' are, 

or could possibly be, in the contemporary context.

Drawing here is defined as an expanded form of contemporary art, rather than the mere, 

and more mechanical craft of masterful representation, observation, and rendering. 

On Big Drawings in the year 2020 has a special focus on the radical and 

emerging change brought about by the ‘Year of the Pandemic’, and the period 

preceding this pivotal moment. The project seeks a deeper engagement with 

the –– sometimes fast changing –– concerns driving artists at this moment to make art, 

and their unique and creative responses to life under conditions of lockdown, 

constraint, stress, and uncertainty during a global crisis. 

We are very grateful to all 19 artists who made this unique publication possible. 

The quality and inventiveness of their work speaks for itself. 

please contact us with exhibition, project / writing proposals or critical dialogue

in connection with OnBigDrawings,

or to join the mailing list.

contact@FriedhardKiekeben.com

This is a Preview site. A completed version of this project will launch once the Covid 19 pandemic is losing its impact on art and society.

contact@FriedhardKiekeben.com