Cecily Brown

"Rehearsal" 

Drawing Center 

October 7—December 18, 2016

It is hard to believe that Cecily Brown, arguably one of the most recognized New York-based painters, has never had solo museum exhibition at her home so far. The Drawing Center’s Rehearsal fulfills that absence while also presenting her drawings first time to an audience. Emphasized as another thread in the painter’s multi-faceted oeuvre rather than being studies for her better-known paintings, Brown’s drawings and sketches draw inspiration from a vast group of sources, including animal clip-art books or Jimi Hendrix album covers.

Brown, who left her long-time representative Gagosian Gallery and had an exhibition of small scale paintings at the renowned West Village gallery Maccarone, takes another unexpected direction with this exhibition that celebrates her less-known drawing side. The title of the exhibition refers to the French word rehercier, meaning going over something with the intention of a better understanding of it. Brown’s repetitive gestures is already one of the most recognized aspect of her practice as a painter, and here in her drawings, she weaves a similar thread. “Yes, they are abstract, but there is always a feeling that something is happening, rather than a Rothko,” says Brown about her semi-abstract universe. Curated by Claire Gilman, the Center’s Chief Curator, the exhibition is a surprising alternative to Brown’s highly acclaimed densely-colored paintings.