Susan Grossman’s Recent Drawings, curated by L.L. Powers and sponsored by the Durst Organization, is now on view in the lobby of the Wall Street Journal Building. The exhibition features large charcoal and pastel images of moody New York City streets and airy East-End Long Island landscapes. Using a minimal palette of black, white, and gray, punctuated by the occasional primary color, Grossman’s drawings recall classic film noir.  She finds compelling subjects and locations by crisscrossing the city and taking numerous photographs. Once in the studio, Grossman, like William Kentridge, begins to draw and then obsessively shifts her narrative world away from her sources.  She re-positions buildings and vehicles while adding and subtracting characters to achieve the final cut. The physicality of her process is crucial to achieve the “just happened” feel of her work. 

Grossman’s expansive landscapes combine billowy Turner-like clouds and twisting roadways with Hopper-esque solitude. As art critic Phyllis Braff has said about Grossman’s work, “Like many effective metaphors, the work invites multiple readings.  Its intentional ambiguity is underscored by faceless, generalized figures and by an open, non-specific narrative. Much is implied, yet nothing is resolved, lending a compelling sense of edginess.”

Susan Grossman graduated from Bennington College and received her MFA from Brooklyn College.  Ms. Grossman has taught at the City College of New York and at the National Academy of Design School, and maintains a studio in Manhattan.  Her work can be found in numerous private and public collections throughout the United States, including The New-York Historical Society. She has had numerous one-person exhibitions at DFN Gallery, where she has been represented since 1997.