When Soo Visual Arts Center staged an exhibition titled simply Draw in 2004, I was eager to understand the curator’s criteria for what to include in the show; what defines a drawing as opposed to a work of art that is something else? At that time, my question wasn’t answered, and I found the show a bit overwhelming -- there were too many works exhibited for the amount of wall space available, and they lacked a clear sense of a unifying theme. But the current exhibition, Draw Too: A Drawing Show in Four Acts, not only improves upon the first in communicating what is meant by draw, but also in limiting the number of works and artists shown, and displaying them in a viewer-friendly arrangement with plenty of space around and between them.

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Draw Too: A Drawing Show in Four Acts
Through August 16
Soo Visual Arts Center
2640 Lyndale Ave. S., Mpls. 55408
www.soovac.org • 612/871-2263
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It’s not that I’ve now found the definitive answer to the question “What is a drawing?” I understand that there is no such absolute answer, which is what makes shows on this theme interesting. But I do want to know what the curator of a drawing show means when they use that term, and this time SooVAC comes through with refreshing clarity.

They announce: “This time around artists will explore how to express four meanings of the word draw by the act of drawing both intangible and concrete illustrations derived from these concepts: Draw as an art form, draw a breath, draw a gun and a draw in sports.”

They have asked contributing artists to submit works that “weave a narrative thread,” and explore the different meanings of the word draw. And the artists do not disappoint.

In “A Draw,” Caleb Coppock uses graphite on paper to create a myriad of intersecting and overlapping forms, from which emerge recognizable shapes -- a leg, part of a face, a jersey -- to convey a sense of motion checked against motion: a draw, as in sports. A lively composition, which draws the eye toward an area of deeper value that is more abstract than the surrounding forms, providing a focal point of a sort, and a place to ponder the nature of this particular work.

Megan Vossler’s sets of studies, each on a theme, showcases her considerable skill and versatility. These are elegantly simple in appearance, some done in graphite, some in ink, and one employing ink and chalk, all on paper. The set “Things that happened in Iraq,” are powerful in their subtlety, showing just enough to recall events that have been widely reported, without belaboring the point.

Yarn is the medium Kurtis Skaife employs in “Man leaning Against Tree,” a large elaborate illustration, which appears to be created by neatly gluing strands of yarn to a board. The way in which the lines of yarn in the blue background or black shadows follow the contours of the shapes they surround reminds me of the carving marks of a woodcut print. The composition has a sense of mystery about it, enhanced by Skaife’s use of line and shadow.

Several works have a Western theme, with cowboys drawing guns in various contexts, interwoven with sometimes wordless commentary, and sometimes with words in the composition itself.

I did not take enough notes to comment on other works displayed here, but I found the entire exhibition wholly satisfying both for the individual works included and the overall unity and quality of the show.

--S.P.

Detail, Megan Vossler, "Things that Happened in Iraq," 2008, ink on paper