Drawing Now | Emily Lazerwitz

This June, explore the work by London-based artist Emily Lazerwitz at DRAWING NOW art fair in Paris.

Emily Lazerwitz

Nibbles for Tea

Inkjet print on matte paper mounted on aluminium, 2014

160 x 112 cm

DRAWING NOW

DRAWING NOW is the first contemporary art fair which is exclusively dedicated to the medium of drawing in Europe. For its 14th edition, DRAWING NOW Art Fair becomes DRAWING NOW Alternative, comparatively an original event adapted to the current health context. DRAWING NOW brings 34 French and European galleries together to present their selection of works based on contemporary drawing over the last 50 years. Given these points, see the best of contemporary drawing in the heart of the Bastille district in Paris, found at 42 rue du Faubourg Saint-Antoine 75012 Paris. Subsequently, the drawing fair will be open to the public from 10 June – 13 June 2021.

Drawing Power – Children of Compost

Lazerwitz will be showing her work in the exhibition ‘DRAWING POWER – CHILDREN OF COMPOST’ , which will be taking place across two locations. Lazerwitz exhibits her 2014 work ‘Prime Guides’ , a redacted book made from literature found secondhand. This particular piece is both a sculpture and a performance. In this case, a dictionary and a Bible, the two fundamental books of the English language, which Lazerwitz redacts on the right hand page. Part of this piece will be shown at Drawing Lab. Lazerwitz is also showing her 2014 redacted piece ‘New Testament: Prime King James Version’, which will be shown at Frac Picardie.

‘Drawing Power – Children of Compost’ marks the start of a collaboration with DRAWING NOW. On this occasion, they have created the exhibition alongside the theme of ecology. Importantly, they will show Lazerwitz’s work in Drawing Lab Paris from 6th June – 30 September 2021. As well as this, they will install the exhibition at Frac Picardie Amiens, from 6 June – 7 July 2021. The curator Joana PR Neves has created ‘The Drawing Power – Children of Compost’ exhibition in partnership with the Frac Picardie. The exhibition explores the way in which artists use drawing to represent, act and reflect on ecological issues. These vary from data gathering to site interventions and how drawing assumes a role of the an interface to raise awareness of climate issues and the ecological future.

Emily Lazerwitz

Prime Guides

Found books, sharpie, 2014

12 x 30 x 6 cm

Prime Guides

‘Prime Guides’, 2014, in particular is an earlier work from Emily Lazerwitz‘s redacted book series. In this case, she uses a dictionary and a Bible, the two fundamental books of the English language. She redacts both on the right hand page. Initially, the artist has painstakingly removed all words that are not semantic primes from the pages of book by crossing them out with a sharpie. The bleed from the sharpie then comes through on the left hand page. The final work is both sculpture and performance. The artist is performing by reading aloud from the redacted text. As a result, this then allows the patterns of language to emerge.

Patterns and code are themes that Lazerwitz continuously explores in her work. In the redacted text in ‘Prime Guides’, she highlights patterns which emerge in the words left on the page. She is then able to see the remaining text which she reads aloud in her performances with the sculptures. The act of redacting also references censorship. In other work, Lazerwitz uses censored CIA documents as her source, transcribing them into other forms, such as rugs and scarves.

See her redacting process on YouTube.

Emily Lazerwitz

London-based US artist Emily Lazerwitz primarily explores the intersection of art, craft, technology and language in her work. Most of all, she creates intriguing pieces where language is broken down. She then transcribes it with the legibility present, yet seemingly abstract. Importantly, in her work, Lazerwitz is concerned with the way technology shapes the direction in which language develops. Consequently, her recent work has touched on gun fatalities in the US, global terrorism and censored CIA documents from the FOIA archives.

• Lazerwitz’s exhibitions include: The Koppel Project Exchange, The Koppel Project Showcase, Copeland Park and Bussey Building, London, UK | Back Room Open Call (Solo Exhibition) (2020), Royal Academy of Arts, London, UK (2018); The Museum of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK; ‘Greater Together’ (2017), Science Museum, London, UK; ‘Journeys’, Jewish Museum London, London, UK (2016); ‘Multiplied Print Fair’, Christie’s, London, UK (2014); BP Spotlight at Tate Britain, London, UK (2014); Brooklyn Museum, New York, NY (2013); Smithsonian, Washington, DC; Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY (2008).
• Her awards include: Julia Wood Memorial Prize, Slade School of Fine Art (2016); 2nd Prize at 25th International Juried Exhibition (awarded by Katherine Brinson, curator of the Guggenheim Museum), Viridian Artists (2014); Promising Artist Award, Rhode Island School of Design (2010); Honorable Mention in Congressional Art Competition, Washington, DC (2009); Certificate of Merit, Society of Arts and Letters for Art, (2009); Shaped Clay, Syracuse University (2008).