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World made by Hand
Andrew Edlin Gallery is pleased to present the group exhibition World Made By Hand, featuring 70 artists engaged in the medium of drawing. Devoid of dependence on any form of technology, these works depict imagery that is primarily derived from nature and the minds of its creators. Free from overt references to 20th or 21st century popular culture these artists tap into their immediate external and internal environme... more >>
Andrew Edlin Gallery is pleased to present the group exhibition World Made By Hand, featuring 70 artists engaged in the medium of drawing. Devoid of dependence on any form of technology, these works depict imagery that is primarily derived from nature and the minds of its creators. Free from overt references to 20th or 21st century popular culture these artists tap into their immediate external and internal environments.
The genesis for the exhibition World Made By Hand is the 2008 novel of the same title by James Howard Kunstler, in which citizens of a rural town in upstate New York rebuild their society in the aftermath of devastating personal loss due to nuclear destruction, epidemics and economic collapse that has all but eliminated the comforts of modern living – no electricity, automobiles, common medications like antibiotics, or any kind of mass food production. In short, almost nothing can be taken for granted.
The townspeople in the story “World Made By Hand” are unencumbered by the rules imposed on them by a culture that no longer exists. While focused on basic survival strategies, they revert to fundamental humanist principles and biblical eye-for-an-eye justice. They discard pre-disaster 21st century norms and rebuild a pathway out of their dystopian nightmare towards a brighter, even utopian future. Children born after the crisis have little frame of reference of what life was like before. Similarly, the artists in this exhibition are not bound by artistic protocol, and are either unaware of or see little value in the dominant trends of the late 20th century. The drawings here lean towards the primordial yet are hopeful, suffused in the raw ether that permeates the DNA of art.
The gallery thanks Sam Gordon for his contribution towards the organization and curation of this exhibition.