This wall welcomes you to FWDC.
There is a painting show that is organized as a drawing show that is really a multimedia show that points back to drawings by a lot of painters. It’s not confusing. I just wrote it that way. For the inaugural exhibition Contemporary Drawing Today, Fort Worth Drawing Center, co-founder, director and New American Paintings alum Francisco Moreno set up shop in the front office space of his Fort Worth studio. On the creation of the FWDC, Moreno states, “Even though Dallas is the 9th largest city in the United States that has major museums, I found it interesting that we didn't have anything on a smaller scale that focused on drawings,”( I suppose I should note that Dallas and Fort Worth are sister cities. Looking at a map, they are two squares next to each other; Fort Worth on the left and Dallas on the right. I will not go into what defines each cities identity and I will only say that one city is like that kid in middle school who listened to Metallica and the other is like that kid in middle school who listened to Slayer.). Moreno and co-curator Kevin Jacobs present a salon-esque hanging of a mix of 20 national and Dallas based artists and their respective definition of “drawing.”
The gallery space is tight and offers an awkward perspective on ways of viewing the show. But let’s face it; some of the work in this show is awkward itself. One of the bigger names in the show is Josh Smith. For the show FWDC highlights a scribbled hammer and Smith’s “signature” signature in Moreno’s personal sketchbook. Smith adds an inspirational message to “keep on hammering.” Will do, buddy.
