Deanna Lee will be showing a site-specific drawing installation in the exhibition Day Job at The Drawing Center.

opening reception: Thursday, December 9, 2010, from 6 to 8 pm.
@ The Drawing Center, 35 Wooster Street in Soho.
The exhibition will be on view from December 10, 2010, to February 3, 2011.

on exhibit: an installation measuring 5 1/2 x 773 inches inspired by an imperfection of The Drawing Center’s Main Gallery.

Deanna Lee

For further information and images please contact
Emily Gaynor Public Relations and Marketing Officer
212 219 2166 x119 | egaynor@drawingcenter.org

The Drawing Center presents Day Job, on view in the Main Gallery from December 10, 2010–February 3, 2011. Comprised of work by 23 artists, the exhibition looks at the relationship between an artist’s “day job” and his or her creative practice. Although the term “day job” may be cast as something that steals time and focus from an artist’s practice, a generative relationship can also exist. Rather than subscribing to the idea that having a job is by definition disruptive, Day Job looks at the ways in which the information, skills, ideas, working conditions, or materials encountered on the job can become a source of influence.

This presentation explores the ways in which artists relate to and choose their day jobs, or conversely, how one’s job may serve as an impetus for creating artistic work. Preceded by a long history of artists whose creative practice existed in parallel with other jobs, such as Alan Saret, who worked for New York’s Port Authority engineering division; Rosalyn Drexler, a wrestler; Andy Warhol, who worked in advertising and magazine illustration; and Adrian Piper, a philosophy professor, this presentation also provides a window into the myriad ways in which today’s working artists support themselves in an economic climate that often demands diverse and flexible solutions to staying afloat.

Works in Day Job were selected through an open call to all artists enrolled in The Drawing Center’s Viewing Program. From art handlers, art teachers, and a museum guard, to an attorney, an electrician, a pilot, and the scenic artist for the soap opera “One Life To Live,” the artists in the exhibition demonstrate a striking range of interests and influences. Whether created in resistance to the job, inspired by the job, or even while on the job, all works are a deliberate result or response to the artist’s job circumstance. Part of the Selections series, this exhibition is curated by Viewing Program Curator Nina Katchadourian.