On Thursday, March 15, The Drawing Center and Parsons The New School for Design hosted The State of Drawing, an invitation-only symposium, at the Sheila C. Johnson Design Center, Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Auditorium at Parsons The New School for Design.

Curator Claire Gilman

Seven panelists were invited to respond to five questions about drawing, before transitioning to an open discussion among all attendees. Artists Deborah Grant, Ryan McGinness, Amy Sillman, J. Parker Valentine, and Terry Winters, along with Carter Foster, Curator of Drawings at The Whitney Museum of American Art, and Michelle White, Curator of The Menil Collection, shared their responses to the following questions:

1) How do we define drawing? Is it an activity or a medium? Can drawing exist without a material residue?

2) How do artists situate drawing in relation to the other elements of their practice-i.e. painting, sculpture, performance etc.?

3) Are drawing via the computer and drawing by hand two distinct media or should they be considered in tandem? What possibilities do digital technologies open up for drawing in all its many forms?

4) How does our constant exposure to virtual space change the way artists approach working in two and three dimensions?

5) What role does drawing still play in reproducing or navigating the world?

Click here to listen to a recording of the symposium!

Ryan McGinness

Terry Winters

Audience Participants

Special thanks to Victoria Marshall, Assistant Professor of Urban Design at Parsons the New School for Design at the New School, New York, and Director of the BS Urban Design Program, which is the first undergraduate urban design program in an art and design school in the nation, and Coordinator of the Drawing Lab, a Parsons-wide research lab. We are grateful to her and her entire team for their generosity in hosting this event.