DFN Gallery is pleased to present “New Drawings” by Susan Grossman, featuring 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. In drawings such as Hurry Up and Rain, loosely applied charcoal and pastel mingle to capture the vibrant activity and momentary dramas of New York’s streets. 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. In Long Weekend, a lone vehicle in the distance is dwarfed by the vast panorama, suggesting a solemn journey home. 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 in 1981 and received her MFA from Brooklyn College. Ms. Grossman has taught at 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 corporate collections including The New York Historical Society. This will be Ms. Grossman’s seventh one-person exhibition at DFN Gallery, where she has been represented since 1997.
A reception will be held for the artist on
Thursday,
October 4th from 6 to 8 PM
To view the entire
exhibition click here.
