“Stand in Line” unites four artists whose interest in abstract line drawing forms a fundamental part of their artistic endeavor: Isabel Albrecht, Lucie Beppler, Astrid Bowlby and Károly Keserü.
Ranging from very methodical approaches of pre-determined line systems to an almost subconscious flow of line patterns, every artist in ‘Stand in Line’ walks their very own lane through abstraction investigating and revealing its endless possibilities.
RCA graduate Isabel Albrecht is by far the most methodical artist in “Stand in Line”. She has been fascinated by repetition and recurrence as a means to generate pattern and restrict her working practice to a rigorous regime.
Single vertical lines are applied manually in systematic schemes the visual outcome of which is not anticipated. The imperfections inevitably caused by the human hand lend her drawings, often created in pairs, a natural dynamic and ephemeral, non-technical beauty.
In his works on paper Karoly Keserü explores many of his ongoing motifs: the grid structure, the correlation of the line and the dot as well as the visual impact of parallel broken lines. Keserü’ s drawings, though obsessive and meticulous, are created in a more playful and experimental spirit than his paintings. The line is often applied in ink, freehand or with a ruler, or sometimes even created by folding. The result is a stringent yet looser and almost lighthearted series referential to the structure, balance and beauty of music.
American artist Astrid Bowlby works solely in the medium of drawing and drawing installation. Organic shapes and cloud like compositions alter recently with complex, more system-based line compositions. Her drawings are always drawn very densly, often applied in several layers and with a wide range of different ink pens. Mainly working in black and white, Bowlby creates highly textured surfaces and drawings of extreme depth and dimension.
Lucie Beppler is the least methodical in her compositional approach, her works on paper are essentially about the process of drawing. The Städel graduate and Frankfurt based artist uses pencils or ball-point pens of differing hardness, paint brushes, scrapers and scratchers, etching and woodcarving tools. Created on cardboard or on photographic paper, Beppler reworks the medium layer by layer into organic non- representational landscape-like surfaces. Her drawings possess a strong physical presence that is balanced with lightness and fragility.