MARTIN PURYEAR

I had the highest hopes for this drawing show at the Cooper Hewett. The New York Times review was titled “Martin Puryear, Multiple Dimensions.” From this review, “His commitment to three dimensions endures even when he’s working in only two.” So I thought, great, I can’t wait to see what the multiple dimensionality of Mr. Puryear’s drawings will reveal.

Not so much, as it turns out.

The large scale drawings were mostly flat projections of his sculptural studies. Think, for example, of a site plan with contours. A contoured site drawing (as shown on the left) is a two dimensional projection. The Z dimension is only communicated via direct knowledge of the conventions of this specific drawing type.  That is to say, you have to know what the lines mean to understand the three dimensional implications.  In the same manner, some of Mr. Puryear’s drawings conveyed three dimensional information just like this.

And then most of the other drawings had tones applied in a completely flat, non dimensional manner. Some of them were charcoal / graphite applied tones.

So at most, the drawings were of the silhouette variety. Nearly black dominant shape on a white background.

I was not aware of the sculptural work of Mr. Puryear. No surprise there as I am continually astounded by what and who I don’t have a clue about. And I purposely did not do any research into Mr. Puryear before the show at the Cooper Hewett. I wanted to see his work and drawings with with an unsullied viewpoint.

I thought it was a fine show. It was absolutely great for the fresh exposure to a new artist who is doing really interesting work. At the same time, I think that the only multiple dimensions in the drawings were somehow manifest in the Time’s reviewer’s head.

I did not include any photos of Mr. Puryear’s drawings because there is a no photo policy for shows at the Cooper Hewett. My opinions on any museum or museum show with a no photography policy will need to wait till another post.

My drawing at the top of the page is based on Mr. Puryear’s sculpture, Bearing Witness.