mattniebuhrdrawings:

untitled (line studies - #1 - two target construction)
2011_01
graphite on paper
18” x 23 3/8” (45.7 x 59.4)cm
Matt Niebuhr

(a geometry construction using a compass and straightedge - two circles, constructed from three points each located at random on the page - then divided equally to form additional circles, rendered in poche to represent disks. A circle is a line forming a closed loop, every point on which is a fixed distance from a center point. A disk is a round portion of a plane which has a circular outline)

See this and other original works available for purchase here - Thanks!  

Two Targets is now part of a private collection…!

I’m considering revisiting the targets iconography in drawing form again while reading up on the perspective use of “targets” from an art history point of view - (Jasper Johns for example)…   especially as the 4th of July looms ahead.  The targets are to me - first,  the result of some relatively simple geometric constructions, originating from an arbitrary position of three points but when combined in a certain way take on other meanings - depending on your point of view.

mattniebuhrdrawings:

untitled (line studies - #1 - two target construction)
2011_01
graphite on paper
18” x 23 3/8” (45.7 x 59.4)cm
Matt Niebuhr

(a geometry construction using a compass and straightedge - two circles, constructed from three points each located at random on the page - then divided equally to form additional circles, rendered in poche to represent disks. A circle is a line forming a closed loop, every point on which is a fixed distance from a center point. A disk is a round portion of a plane which has a circular outline)

See this and other original works available for purchase here - Thanks!

untitled, #1 graphite line
2011_04_18
china marker and graphite over graphite wash on paper
48” x 48” (121.92 x 121.92) cm
Matt Niebuhr

(more drawings / studies on my log over here….)

Make drawings at different sizes (keeping the process of making them the same). The scale effects the outcome of a drawing - no matter how much planning goes into it - the size and circumstances (difficulty) of making seep into the process and make it something different and for this version in my study, something better… Perceptions change as well working at different scales…  

The drawing to me, is a record of sorts, a record of ability and inability to control an outcome of a planned process… The hand is what executes the plan…. everything else is what happens…

detail: untitled (line studies - #1 - three target construction)
2011_02_13
graphite on paper
18” x 23 3/8” (45.7 x 59.4)cm
Matt Niebuhr

The magic moment when constructing a circle from three points comes after laying out perpendicular lines to find their intersection and therefor the center then to put the compass at that center and to connect the points in one complete motion  -  that is the moment closest to magic for me.  A circle is but a line forming a closed loop, every point on which is a fixed distance from a center.

Maybe too, it’s a metaphor for life, on the magic of finding a center…

Emma Mcnally

B+w4 (digital hybrid of two drawings, thinking of particle collision chambers and musical scores)

Personally, It’s a great thing to share / see finished / in progress / experimental work!  More here

Skip - is composed of traces of General’s graphite sticks (4B) and a Pink Pearl on gridded drafting paper -  This series came about for a number of reasons, one is simply that I have a number of different scraps of graphite sticks - each different lengths and shapes which offers up an interesting result in different types of marks…

But, I like “skip” because simply I was walking with my daughter the other day - hand in hand and she was “skipping” and trying to avoid the cracks in the sidewalk along the way - it created the most wonder rhythm hand in hand as she sang the “ABC’s” song…

So this is a trace of my memory of that - so I won’t forget - how important things happen in everyday occurrences - and that she may remember some of these days too….

More works are collected on my site: www.mattniebuhr.com - check out the “Drawings” sections…. 

untitled (shimmer)
2010_05_19
graphite on paper
58” x 94” (147 x 238)cm

Matt Niebuhr

A much larger work on the idea of Shimmer.

Something happens to the “visual field” when drawing at this scale. Walking back and forth / to and fro - unable to reach across the paper in one arms length.  The overlay of the grid helps me measure myself against that record of movement and suggests a visual rhythm.

detail: untitled (shimmer)
2010_05_19
graphite on paper

The beginnings of an appearance of an old friend the grid - a way finding device layered upon the field and a faint shimmer… An oblique view reveals a bit more of the shimmer, continuing the study of lighting and position as a key part of the experience offered by the drawing…

detail oblique view: untitled (shimmer)
2010_05_19
graphite on paper

untitled ( gotcha! Antoinette Concello - the greatest woman flyer of all time )
2010_03_21
graphite on paper
35” x 60”
Matt Niebuhr

I don’t really know much about Antoinette, it turns out she was (still is I suppose) a quite famous trapeze artist with Ringling Brothers Circus back in the 30’s - that bit of which for me and this drawing is incidental.    However, finding an old snapshot captured my interest in working on a new series loosely organized around the idea of performance.  

detail: untitled ( gotcha! Antoinette Concello the greatest woman flyer of all time)
2010_03_21
graphite on paper
Matt Niebuhr

While spending time with this drawing, I imagined a number of metaphors that might become a fitting a title for the drawing but decided that task should be left up to the experience of the audience - maybe closer to what performance of sorts is all about ) - still though fascinated with what must be exhilarating experience of near flight.  

detail: untitled ( gotcha! Antoinette Concello the greatest woman flyer of all time)
2010_03_21
graphite on paper
Matt Niebuhr

untitled (122 yrs)
2010_03_17
graphite on paper
34” x 56”
Matt Niebuhr

detail: untitled (122 yrs)
2010_03_17
graphite on paper
Matt Niebuhr

Emma McNally
Field #8
graphite on paper.
(270cm x 230cm). 2010

Wow - large scale drawing work… it is beautiful and I’m intrigued by the images.  The oblique views allude to more of the depth of the drawings - more so than the patterns overlaid - what with the matte powder marked over by the silver gleam of graphite pressed on the page…  (see this image here)

 Really nice work….  More about Emma McNally (filtered point of view…)