Skip to main content
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • Videos
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Library
    • Research
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Arts & Culture
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • |
  • Alumni
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
Sections
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • |
  • Alumni
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • Videos
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Library
    • Research
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Arts & Culture

XL Projects to present works of SUArt Galleries’ Jerome Witkin retrospective ‘Drawn to Paint’

Tuesday, August 16, 2011, By Erica Blust
Share
College of Visual and Performing Arts

XL Projects, the downtown venue of Syracuse University’s College of Visual and Performing Arts (VPA), will present works of the SUArt Galleries’ exhibition “Drawn to Paint: The Art of Jerome Witkin” Sept. 7-Oct. 16. XL Projects is located at 307-313 S. Clinton St., Syracuse. The show is free and open to the public.

“Drawn to Paint” consists of 70 works–including drawings, paintings and sketchbooks–by Witkin, one of America’s leading figurative painters and a longtime professor of painting in VPA’s Department of Art. XL Projects will host an exhibition reception on Thursday, Sept. 15, from 6-8 p.m. in conjunction with Th3, Syracuse’s city-wide art open.

“Drawn to Paint” will also be on view at SUArt Galleries on SU’s main campus Sept. 8-Oct. 23. Dividing the show between the two venues allows for broader access and engagement within the community. The SUArt Galleries show is also free and open to the public, with an opening reception on Thursday, Sept. 8, from 5-7 p.m.

“Drawn to Paint” marks the first time Witkin has allowed his drawings to be displayed beside their finished works. Curator of the exhibition is Edward A. Aiken, associate professor and program coordinator of VPA’s graduate program in museum studies in the Department of Design. “Drawn to Paint” will be traveling to other museums around the country during a two-year tour that will conclude at the Palmer Museum of Art in University Park, Pa.

“Jerome Witkin’s command of the brush and finesse as a draftsman have established him as one of the pre-eminent artists of our time, keeping the style of figurative narrative painting relevant in contemporary art,” says Domenic Iacono, director of SUArt Galleries. “‘Drawn to Paint: The Art of Jerome Witkin’ is more than a selection of masterfully painted narratives. Through the juxtaposition of drawings and sketchbooks, the exhibition represents a rare look into the artist’s process, from the inception of an idea to the completed artwork.”

Witkin’s career as a professor at VPA spans four decades. He has known an enviable number of artists central to the development of 20th-century American painting, and he has studied the history of art with great care. Witkin brings all of this knowledge of drawing, painting and history to bear in the classroom studio, where he encourages and critiques his students. This exhibition celebrates Witkin’s career as an artist-teacher, a dual role in which he has excelled.

The works of Witkin carry forward into our era the grand Western European tradition of history painting. His images offer dramatic narratives that reveal themselves over time. Many of his most interesting paintings are large multiple panels, each section presenting a different chapter of an unfolding story. Their scale pushes the viewer back to see the whole composition, while his brushwork encourages close examination to better admire the painting’s surface.

While Witkin’s painterly technique appears spontaneous, it is grounded in drawing. He is a highly skilled draftsman who enjoys drawing both for its own sake and as a way to work through the challenges of designing large compositions. Drawing allows Witkin to study various possibilities before committing brush to canvas. “Drawn to Paint” explores, for the first time, this crucial aspect of Witkin’s process.

The works included in “Drawn to Paint: The Art of Jerome Witkin” come from galleries, private collections and museums across the country. Notable institutional lenders include the Munson-William-Proctor Arts Institute in Utica, N.Y.; the Memorial Art Gallery in Rochester, N.Y.; the Everson Museum in Syracuse; the Palmer Museum of Art in University Park, Pa., and Jack Rutberg Fine Arts in Los Angeles.

XL Projects is open Wednesday-Sunday, noon-6 p.m. The gallery may be contacted at (315) 442-2542 during gallery hours or e-mail Andrew Havenhand at ahavenhand@yahoo.com. Complete information and related programming is available at http://suart.syr.edu or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Drawn-to-Paint-The-Art-of-Jerome-Witkin/205701046108486.

Image accompanying this story is Bride-Noir, 2011, graphite and charcoal on paper, courtesy of Jack Rutberg Fine Arts, Los Angeles, Calif.

  • Author

Erica Blust

  • Recent
  • Funding Expands for Newhouse Professors’ Work on Technology to Combat Fake News
    Wednesday, May 18, 2022, By Wendy S. Loughlin
  • Biology and Earth and Environmental Sciences Departments Come Together on Diversity and Engagement Initiatives
    Tuesday, May 17, 2022, By News Staff
  • As the School of Education’s Italy Program Returns, Sara Jo Soldovieri ’18, G’19 Reflects on Its Influence
    Tuesday, May 17, 2022, By Martin Walls
  • Center for Fellowship and Scholarship Advising Team Helps Match Students With Unique Experiences That Enhance Their Studies
    Tuesday, May 17, 2022, By Jen Maser
  • COVID-19 Update: Public Health Protocols for Summer 2022
    Tuesday, May 17, 2022, By News Staff

More In Arts & Culture

Syracuse University Art Museum Piloting Object-Based Teaching and Research Faculty Fellows Program

Faculty from all disciplines are invited to apply for a pilot Faculty Fellows Program being hosted this summer by the Syracuse University Art Museum. The program focuses on object-based teaching and research. It is both a way for the art…

Innovator Lorrie Vogel ’88 to Deliver 2022 VPA Convocation Address

Innovator Lorrie Vogel ’88 will deliver the 2022 convocation address to bachelor’s and master’s degree candidates of the College of Visual and Performing Arts (VPA) at the college’s convocation ceremony on Saturday, May 14, at 7:30 p.m. in the stadium….

M.F.A. Exhibition ‘Steady/Retcon’ to be Exhibited on New York City’s Governors Island

  Master of fine arts (M.F.A.) candidates in the College of Visual and Performing Arts (VPA) are presenting the thesis exhibition “Steady/Retcon” over two weekends in May at the Syracuse University Governors Island House, 407A Colonels Row, Governors Island, New…

Department of Drama Presents ‘As You Like It’

The Department of Drama presents the final show of the 2021/2022 season with “As You Like It,” a ravishing new musical adaptation of Shakespeare’s classic story by Shaina Taub and Laurie Woolery. The production, directed by Rodney Hudson, will perform…

Movie Based on SU Press Book ‘Harry Haft: Survivor of Auschwitz, Challenger of Rocky Marciano’ Debuts

“The Survivor,” a movie based on the Alan Scott Haft book, “Harry Haft: Survivor of Auschwitz, Challenger of Rocky Marciano,” debuted on HBO and HBO Max on Wednesday, April 27. It is being released on Holocaust Remembrance Day, commemorating the…

Subscribe to SU Today

If you need help with your subscription, contact sunews@syr.edu.

Connect With Us

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
Social Media Directory

For the Media

Find an Expert Follow @SyracuseUNews
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
  • @SyracuseU
  • @SyracuseUNews
  • @SUCampus
  • Social Media Directory
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy
  • Campus Status
  • Syracuse.edu
© 2022 Syracuse University News. All Rights Reserved.