As part of Traces VII – Action Line: The Seventh Biennale of Drawing in Israel

Drawing is an artistic act that hovers between fixation of the visible and its liberation, between the present line and its potential disappearance. The works of the nineteen artists exhibiting at the Jerusalem Print Workshop as part of the 7th Biennale for Drawing allow perusal of drawing in the transitions between presentation and trace, and between the paper or canvas and the physical or virtual space. They invite understanding of drawing as a basis for art in both the two- and the three-dimensional spheres. They explore the consciousness of drawing and of the line comprising it: its being purist and performative, and at the same time—an image, a representation, and a narrative.

The printmaking medium is based on drawing, suspending, deconstructing and reconstructing, imprinting, enhancing, and expanding it using various techniques. In printmaking, drawing undergoes a transformation through the mere transfer from the matrix to paper or some other surface. The matrix, whether a metal plate, a wooden block, or a screen, embodies the sculptural dimension, tying the two-dimensional to the three-dimensional.

The cluster of works featured at the JPW spans diverse media: drawing, sculpture, installation, photography, video, and printmaking. Some carry drawing elements and qualities that may be associated with print, such as patterns and their distortion, construction and deconstruction of a grid, the relationship between the multiple-duplicated and the original, etc. Above all, the works follow the path of the print medium, which remembers, preserves, and deepens the act of drawing, while requiring the artist to challenge its nature.