Susan Collis
England, born Scotland, 1956
I would like to invite the viewer I, 2014
Graphite on paper
46 3/16 x 30 ½ in.
Weatherspoon Art Museum, University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Museum purchase with funds from the Dillard Fund for the Dillard Collection, 2014.14

Collis uses a variety of techniques to investigate issues concerning interpretation, craft, and the value of labor. At first glance, the marks in this work seem to be the result of a few quick strokes of a paintbrush. But a shift of perception takes place upon discovery that it is, in fact, a drawing, made slowly and intentionally with pencil and paper.

© Susan Collis

Alyson Shotz
United States, born 1964
Untitled (two checks), about 1996
Sumi ink on cancelled checks
13 ¾ x 14 ½ in.
Weatherspoon Art Museum, University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Gift of Lesley Spector Birenbaum, 2002.13.3

The animated marks that cover the surface of these two checks blur the boundaries between the checks’ actual physical essence and presence and their surrounding setting. The varying density of the blotches also creates a wavering surface of light and dark. As a result, Shotz highlights the relationship and interaction between an artwork, its space, the viewer, and the viewer’s perception, which remain uniting themes of her work.

© Alyson Shotz

Charles Clough
United States, born 1951
Untitled, 1981
Enamel on paper
12 9/16 x 17 9/16 in.
Weatherspoon Art Museum, University of North Carolina at Greensboro. THE DOROTHY AND HERBERT VOGEL COLLECTION: FIFTY WORKS FOR FIFTY STATES, a joint initiative of the Trustees of the Dorothy and Herbert Vogel Collection and the National Gallery of Art, with generous support of the National Endowment for the Arts and the Institute of Museum and Library Services, 2009.6.9
 
Untitled evokes finger painting because of the way the enamel paint was applied to the paper. In fact, in the early 1990s Clough’s desire to tap into the uninhibited creativity universally inherent in childhood prompted him to develop unique “big finger” tools in order to make massive collaborative paintings. Clough’s application of paint also illustrates his faithfulness to gestural abstraction rooted in abstract expressionism. Clough once said: "There are two ways to enjoy painting. One is to view it, the other is to do it."

© Charles Clough

Miguel A. Aragón
Mexico, born 1978
Flotando, 2013
Burnt residue embossing
22 x 30 in.
Weatherspoon Art Museum, University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Museum purchase with funds from the Dillard Fund for the Dillard Collection, 2014.13

Aragón’s work is based on a newspaper image of a murder related to the Mexican Drug Cartel Wars that dominate the artist’s hometown of Ciudad Juárez. Aragón’s image fuses his technique with the way such newspaper photographs remain in the memory of the city’s residents. His unique method of burnt residue embossing (a technique that raises a three-dimensional image on paper) results in imagery verging on abstraction; the prone body blends into the landscape and seems to disappear from view.

© Miguel A. Aragón

Robert Smithson
United States, 1938-1973
Unitled (Monster), 1957
Gouache, ink, and graphite on paper
14 ¾ x 42 in.
Weatherspoon Art Museum, University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Museum purchase with funds from the Lynn Richardson Prickett Acquisition Endowment and the Weatherspoon Guild Acquisition Endowment, made possible by the generosity of Alan Brilliant, 2013.3


Because of its perspective, this image of a crucifixion is initially difficult to discern. Using a long, horizontal composition and an aerial perspective, Smithson rendered the uplifted face and outstretched arms of Christ while rendering the rest of his body in extreme foreshortening. Still a high school student when he created this image, Smithson imparted Christ’s suffering through his choice of colors and Christ’s expressive face and sinewy limbs. The artist exhibited the drawing for the first time in New York in December 1957 at the apartment of Alan Brilliant, Smithson’s close friend and Greensboro’s own noted bookseller.

© Robert Smithson

Elliott Hundley
United States, born 1975
The Body of Polydoros, 2008
Paper, wood, bamboo, string, wire, metal, ceramic, coral, shells, spray paint, oil paint, plastic, epoxy putty, cardboard, glue, rag, gold and copper leaf
100 x 40 x 23 in.
Weatherspoon Art Museum, University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Museum purchase with funds from the Dillard Fund and a partial gift of the artist and Andrea Rosen Gallery for the Dillard Collection, 2008.15

Hundley’s multimedia sculptures begin with performances. The artist creates scenes with props, actors, and theatrical lighting that he photographs and prints. He then works these images into assemblages of found objects. Hundley is often inspired by classical mythology. This sculpture responds to the Greek tragedy Hekabe, specifically a moment after the Battle of Troy in which Hekabe is presented her slain son Polydoros.

© Elliott Hundley, courtesy Regen Projects, Los Angeles and Andrea Rosen Gallery, New York

Bill Jensen
United States, born 1945
Untitled, 1992
Graphite on paper
24 ¼ x 17 ⅜  in.
Weatherspoon Art Museum, University of North Carolina at Greensboro. THE DOROTHY AND HERBERT VOGEL COLLECTION: FIFTY WORKS FOR FIFTY STATES, a joint initiative of the Trustees of the Dorothy and Herbert Vogel Collection and the National Gallery of Art, with generous support of the National Endowment for the Arts and the Institute of Museum and Library Services, 2009.6.16

Jensen’s abstract compositions evoke elements of spirituality, sexuality, nature, and the cosmos without direct reference. The drawing’s horizon line and gestural markmaking suggest a sea or landscape.

© Bill Jensen