Profile

The nonprofit Drawing Center with its stunning space is the only non-profit in the country to focus entirely on drawings. It is also the only visual-arts institution selected to be part of the new World Trade Center site. The Drawing Center specializes in historical exhibits. Past shows have featured Ellsworth Kelly (nearly 200 never-before-seen works on paper) and an incredible selection of nearly 150 works from the Tate collection, with pieces by Bacon, Beckmann, Blake, Duchamp, Picabia, Johns, and Hesse. But the center is not just focused on the past. It is also a space for emerging artists. There have been pieces from Canada’s rambling, vibrant collective the Royal Art Lodge; the late Margaret Kilgallen, whose lyrical installation was inspired by old signs and whimsical street murals; and British artist and conceptual filmmaker Tacita Dean, who mounted a series of seven huge, ambitious works on chalkboard in the space. — Alex Mar