Mateo López, Nowhere Man,2011, Mixed media installation,
Overall display dimensions 190 x 320 x 281cm
Last month saw the opening of The Peripatetic School: Itinerant Drawing from Latin America. The exhibition, guest curated by Tate Modern curator of International Art Tanya Barson, presents the work of artists from across Latin America who share an engagement with the landscape, whether urban or rural. Works such as Nicolás Paris’ Hurry Slowly and those featured by Ishmael Randall Weeks, André Komatsu, and the collaborative works of Raimond Chaves and Gilda Mantilla, explore notions of discovery through travel and movement. Tony Cruz’s Distance Drawing San Juan/London, an attempt to draw the distance from San Juan to London (6,751.2362m). Realised only 0.0031890 percent (2,153m), and Mateo López’s Nowhere Man, engage with the relationship between the home and foreign lands, while Brígida Baltar creates beautiful and ephemeral works from the roots of her home country of Brazil, using soil as her drawing material.
The themes explored in The Peripatetic School are particularly apt for Drawing Room’s inaugural exhibition at its new Bermondsey location, as the gallery itself has been in the process of moving and establishing roots in this new cultural quarter of London. This week, Mateo López has been leading workshops with students from Southwark College, and the exhibition has received great feedback from local visitors. Furthermore, with White Cube soon to be opening just around the corner, Drawing Room’s new home is sure to be a hub of artistic activity. Check out our mention in The Art Newspaper and The Guardian this week.
In addition to organising workshops with a local college, Drawing Room held a well-attended conference in collaboration with TrAIN (University of the Arts Research Centre for Transnational Art, Identity and Nation) last week. Guests including Moacir dos Anjos, Christian Rattemeyer, and Ellen Gallagher, spoke on the subject of Travelling Lines: Drawing as an Itinerant Practice. Lively discussions took place around themes and issues such as the link between itinerancy and drawing, the sense of place in Latin American art, and questions about what it means to be a ‘Latin American’ artist. In addition, the conference gave eight of the artists participating in the exhibition the chance to discuss and answer questions about their work. A healthy rapport and exchange between speakers and members of the audience further served to add to the success of the discussions, which will be available to listen to online shortly.
The Peripatetic School is open until 12 November 2011, Tuesday – Saturday 12-6pm.
