A city within a city, Harlem is in a constant state of flux. It is hardedged. It is immediate. It is fantastical. It is real, hyper-real and hyperrealized. In counterbalance to this reality, Wardell Milan: Drawings of Harlem offers a new physical possibility for experiencing this space. The works... Read more
A city within a city, Harlem is in a constant state of flux. It is hardedged. It is immediate. It is fantastical. It is real, hyper-real and hyperrealized. In counterbalance to this reality, Wardell Milan: Drawings of Harlem offers a new physical possibility for experiencing this space. The works in the exhibition illustrate, in panoramic scope, the people, places, storefronts, churches, iconic fixtures and moments in time that are the essence of this cosmopolitan neighborhood. Commissioned and organized by Studio Museum PR Manager and Editor in Chief Ali Evans, this exhibition originated from Milan’s 2008 sketches of Harlem created for the pages of Studio magazine, following his year as an artist in residence. Upon his completing the sketches, the Museum invited him to continue drawing throughout the following year for this project. A merger of the artist’s photographic eye and impressionistic hand, the exhibition includes more than forty works on paper based on photographs Milan took throughout Harlem. Some works are loosely drawn, while others display a close attention to detail. Some have color, though most are black and white. Representing moments experienced as fleeting, the works in Drawings of Harlem bring together contemporary photography and the fundamental artistic practice of drawing.
