Tangible Marking: The Dimensional Drawings of Creighton Michael November 14, 2010 ­ January 23, 2011

The Esther Massry Gallery at The College of Saint Rose presents “Tangible Marking: The Dimensional Drawings of Creighton Michael” by New York City artist Creighton Michael, who is known for his serial drawings in two and three dimensions.

Gallery Reception: Friday, December 3, 5:00-7:00 p.m.
Artist's Talk: Friday, December 3, 7:00 p.m.
Saint Joseph Auditorium

Creighton Michael was trained as a painter but prefers not to be categorized. His interests lie beyond the traditional boundaries of painting, drawing and sculpture. Since 2002, he has been working on an ongoing series based on the grid, employing multiple media, systems and formulas to explore the vast possibilities. Michael’s choice of materials such as wire, rubber and plastic tubing, rope, wood dowels (in place of traditional drawing instruments) and related techniques are in the sculptural realm. Yet, conceptually, he is strongly influenced by the reed pen and ink drawings of Vincent van Gogh with their repetitious, gestural marks. The idea of isolating single strokes or “marks” as a way to construct an image or pattern led to the construction of this body of work on exhibit.

Aptly coined “dimensional drawing,” Michael’s art is a hybridization of drawing and sculpture that explores time and space and chance by using architecture (the gallery walls) as the material support, rather than canvas or paper. His serial drawings on display in two and three-dimensions extend the visual language of such artists as Mark Tobey, Franz Kline and Cy Twombly and explore various facets of drawing from material composition, physicality, process and emerging patterns.

The drawings are constructed over a period of days in collaboration with the art students and non-art majors, who interpret and “redraw” individual works. Throughout the process, students examine various facets of drawing, its process and material composition as well as drawing’s involvement with emerging patterns. During this investigation, the student begins to understand that drawing is more than the mere act of depicting; drawing is simply a marking system related to other marking systems like musical notation and calligraphy. An important outcome is for the student to discover new drawing and avenues of articulation with a greater appreciation for the medium.