Linda Karshan at Draw Art Fair London 2019

Linda Karshan

Linda Karshan

Linda Karshan The first drawing by Linda Karshan to enter the British Museum was purchased from The Redfern Gallery in 1994. Twentyfive years later we are delighted to present a retrospective selection of her drawings from 1992-2019, illustrating her natural progression from a graphic to a performative drawing action.

These new “walked” drawings have been conceived and filmed in collaboration with Ishmael Annobil; their sounds are crucial to following her movements through space.

Guided by what she calls her “inner choreography”, Karshan makes spare, monochromatic, abstract prints and drawings that serve as direct reflections of the process of their making. Though she began her career producing expressive compositions, in 1994 she developed a performance-based method for making work in which every mark is associated with her rhythmic and regulated breathing, her counter-clockwise turning of the paper, the motion of her entire body, and the musical way in which she counts off increments of time. Karshan’s method results in iterative images of intersecting lines, forming grids, geometric shapes and patterns, and, sometimes, ordered yet loosely scribbled marks repeating across the page.

The Redfern Gallery was founded in 1923 on the top floor of Redfern House at 27 Old Bond Street, London, as an artists’ co-operative. It is now one of the longest-established galleries of modern British and contemporary art in London.

DRAW PERFORMANCE: On each day of the fair, Linda Karshan will be performing a walked drawing on the Saatchi Gallery staircase. Please see drawartfair.com for details.

Untitled 1995 Graphite on paper 42 Ă— 30 cm

20/04/2015 (I) Old + New 2015 Graphite on Arches paper 76 × 56 cm

Rediscovered, Realigned 13.03.2019 1996-2019 Biro on notebook paper 27 Ă— 20.5 cm

Untitled 1995 Mixed media on paper 65 Ă— 51 cm

21/7/98 (7) 1998 Graphite on Arches paper 76 Ă— 56 cm

2/2/00 2000 Charcoal and turpentine wash on notebook paper 35.5 Ă— 25.5 cm

Weight and Measure 21/1/19 2019 Graphite on Arches paper 76 Ă— 56 cm

Untitled 1998 Graphite on lined paper 29 Ă— 21 cm

Crystal I 8/03/2019 2019 Graphite on Arches paper 76 Ă— 56 cm

Untitled 1995 Biro on paper 20.5 Ă— 11.5 cm

14/11/13 I 2013 Graphite on Arches paper 76 Ă— 56 cm

Untitled Drawing 1998 Graphite on paper 30 Ă— 21 cm

Untitled 1993 Ink on paper 75 Ă— 55 cm

New York 1992 Mixed media on notebook paper 16 Ă— 20 cm Untitled 1995 Graphite on paper 151 Ă— 113 cm

Untitled 1994 Ink on paper 75 Ă— 56 cm

Happy Drawing 2015 Graphite on Arches paper 75 Ă— 56 cm

12/02/14 2014 Ink on paper 151 × 113 cm

Untitled 2000 Charcoal and wash on notebook paper 35.5 Ă— 25.5 cm

Inelegant, Assuredly, but Sound, Sound, 24.07.03 2003 Graphite on Arches paper 76 Ă— 56 cm

LINDA KARSHAN American, b. 1947 in Minneapolis, MN, lives and works in London, UK, and New York, NY EDUCATION 1983 MA in Psychology, Antioch Centre for British Studies, London, UK 1968-69 The Slade School of Fine Art, University College, London, UK 1967-68 Art History, The Sorbonne, University of Paris, France 1965-67 Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY THE REDFERN GALLERY EXHIBITIONS 2017 Linda Karshan – Studio View: Prints and Drawings 1983 – 2017 2015 Signs of Men and Drawings and prints by Linda Karshan from the collection of Victor Skipp 2012 Linda Karshan – New Drawings 2010 Movements, and their Images 2008 Forms of Time II 2007 Two Clear Days 2004 Constellation and Chance 2002 Linda Karshan – Grids, Stacks and Other Moves 2000 Linda Karshan Prints and Drawings Karshan’s solo museum/institutional exhibitions and installations include those at Palazzo dell’Emiciclo, L’Aquila, Italy (2019); San Giorgio Maggiore Abbey, Venice, Italy (2018); Museum Pfalzgalerie Kaiserslautern, Germany (2013); Kettle’s Yard, Cambridge, UK (2003); Sir John Soane’s Museum, London, UK (2002); and Institut Valencia d’Art Modern, Valencia, Spain (2002). Her works were featured in group exhibitions at the Courtauld Gallery, London, UK (2014, 2012), Kettle’s Yard, Cambridge, UK (2013, 2010), Kupferstichkabinett, Berlin, Germany (2013), British Museum, London, UK (2010), Graphische Sammlung, Munich, Germany (2009), and Folkwang Museum, Essen, Germany (2008) among others. She regularly exhibits with several galleries in Europe and the USA. Karshan’s drawings, prints and artist’s books are held in public and private collections, including in the UK: The British Library; The British Museum; The Courtauld Institute of Art; Sir John Soane’s Museum; Tate Modern; The Arts Council Collection – all in London. The Ashmolean Museum, Oxford; Kettle’s Yard, Cambridge; Middlesbrough Museum of Modern Art (MIMA), Middlesbrough, England; in the US: Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco; Fogg Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN; The Morgan Library, New York, NY; and a suite of thirteen prints have been recently acquired by the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Publications focusing on Karshan’s works and writings are available through Redfern Gallery and on the artist’s website. Recent publications include The Library for L’Aquila by Linda Karshan/La Biblioteca per L’Aquila di Linda Karshan – English & Italian (2019); Equilibrio - Linda Karshan: Art, Architecture & Sacred Geometry in Conversation – available through Beam Editions UK (2018); Linda Karshan - Studio View: a book in three parts (2017).

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