Linda Karshan
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CV

Matthias Bärmann - august form 2002

„If someone says ‘I have a body,’ one can ask him ‘Who speaks here with this mouth?’“
(Ludwig Wittgenstein, ‘On Certainty’, § 244)

„Two feet walking“.
(Alberto Giacometti, asked about his studio by Andre Breton)

The London studio of Linda Karshan, which is some distance away from her apartment, is a large high room, well proportioned (as prescribed by Ad Reinhardt), and almost empty. The floor is dark. On the large white surfaces of the walls drawings can easily be pinned up as they are completed, so that they can be seen in context. A flat shelf in a corner has room enough for some folders of work. The freestanding drawing table is covered with graphite dust. The acoustics of the room allow the words and sentences spoken to remain in the air, light and precise, like misty breath coming from one’s mouth in clear, very cold air.

Karshan’s second studio is in the Connecticut countryside in the U.S.A. For some years now she has regularly spent the summer months there. The lakes of Connecticut: Linda Karshan has been, since childhood, an enthusiastic and unflagging swimmer. The rhythmic successive movements, stroke after stroke. The strokes of the arms and legs, synchronized with breathing in and out. With the heartbeat. Immersion in the other element to which the body entrusts itself, by which it is made weightless. Body and spirit enveloped and allowed to float, time suspended.

Linda Karshan’s drawing needs the studio as a place to be manifested on paper. But drawing always maintains its latent presence. As a rhythmic process, branching expansively and deeply rooted in her living form. A choreography of the processes of life, going from the primary processes of the body to those of consciousness and mind.

To speak or write about Linda Karshan’s drawings can only mean describing the process of their formation. But not as a process of forming something that ends up as a drawing. It means describing the drawing itself as the process of its own formation.

Even before she enters her studio Karshan begins to count, in repetitive and rhythmical sequences of varying lengths, it might be 2, 4, 8 or 16 numerical units. Or even one. The rhythm continues in the studio, marched out loud, and takes over the movements of the legs, the arms, the whole body. This rhythm with its energy is, like the artist herself, a subject of the drawing. It is powered by its own strength. Linda Karshan follows it with the pulses of her drawing, with her „marks“. Within a drawing the rhythm can speed up and slow down, can span longer or shorter periods.

From their etymology „mark“ and „marking“ signify boundary, boundary area, boundary line. Karshan works with the topography of boundaries. She does not overstep her inner boundary. As she is drawing she moves always at and with the boundary. A shifting boundary.
Linda Karshan, who is in fact left-handed, always draws with the right, her „wrong“ hand. She holds the pencil perpendicularly in her fist. The force of gravity in the vertical axis. Withdrawn from the intent of the will and an ego-routine that can only constantly reproduce itself, just like oriental calligraphers. In the pulsing of the transferred energies it can happen that the graphite pencil breaks. In its intensity Karshan’s drawing is a sculptural act, she speaks of her works as „carved out“. The strong paper she prefers resists the graphite, creates noise: sound on paper. Drawing is „to follow the sound“. Years later Karshan can recall unmistakably and with complete clarity the specific sound of a particular drawing, as well as the actual physical feeling in her body while it was in process.

The starting point for a drawing, the place where the rhythm comes into contact with the paper for the first time, is precise yet intuitive. From that point the „marks“ proceed onwards, with the irresistibility of ripples, when a stone has fallen into the still waters of a pond. There are no decisions. „I have no choice.“ („Having a choice,“ according to the American writer Don DeLillo, „is a subtle form of illness.“) The rhythmic pulses of the „marks“, synchronized with the sequences of counting, extend beyond the edges of the sheet lying on the drawing-table. For a moment they are continued on the surface of the table, with a different sound now, then return to the paper with the next sequence. Between the sequences the page is always turned, so that the actions of drawing proceed from each side in turn.

One continuum, without interruption, without restarting the process. In certain circumstances, however, there may be several successive passes, by which the structures are stabilized. The patterns that are formed from them, parallel lines or, often, orthogonal grid-like structures, are not intended but are the result. With countless minimal irregularities within the basic geometrical pattern: which fill the drawing with energy and animation. The germ of Linda Karshan’s drawing is found not in the form but in the rhythm, in the dance that takes place between the body and the sheet of paper. This derives from a circumstance that can only be described paradoxically: concentrated and self-forgetful, awake, „aware“ - „but not too much.“

Karshan’s drawing generates time, time experienced, time formed. Every „mark“ on the paper is an actual equivalent of time, the impact of a specific moment and its unique energized signature. Beginning and end are extinguished in the structures. The individual pulses form a counterpoint to the one comprehensive movement that is subsumed in a state of pure presence. In this way the exact record is realized, the „portrait“ of a specific situation at a specific time. For example, on this particular August day 2002 in the studio in Connecticut. August forms. Self-Portraits.

„A surrendering of the conscious mind, allowing the body to take over“ (Christof Koch and Francis Crick in a study of the systems of neurons independent of consciousness). A pact with the body. The body a ferry that transports itself.

The presence of the body. Many works of the early 1990s make one think of membranes, of skin. The path since then has gone deeper, has led to skeletal structures, to the spine with the ribs attached, and onward to the orthogonal grids. These, however, still clearly preserve their corporeality. The intelligence of the body, of its fundamental structural system at the level of cells. Its autopoietic function, its ability to organize itself has yet to be acquired at the level of consciousness, in the process of drawing.

For this, the decisiveness and discipline of a warrior are required. Daily practicing and practice, rituals strictly observed, exercises performed as ceremonies. „Drawing my being.“ If body and mind have become instruments, awake and transparent, then the most delicate and complex movements and nuances can be defined in the simplest forms. Action dictated not by thought and concept. Action dictated by insight, spontaneous, intuitive. And for that very reason: clearly structured. Dissolution of the ego is a process that leads to personal identity, the passage through chaos emerges into a new state of order. Human or geometrical form? Order or chaos? If we look outdoors, is the frame of the window order and are the passing clouds chaos? Window frame and clouds are unified in Linda Karshan’s drawings. That is why we can look outdoors.

By following the rhythm of counting Karshan structures her material. The eye is the „guide“. The stored memory of mankind, the body, is danced free. At the same time, the absorption in serial rhythms is a universal trance technique. Self-renouncement with the consciousness fully awake. With consciousness, but not of anything: open, precise awareness. Exact intuition. Discipline and anarchy. „To live outside the law you must be honest“ (Bob Dylan).

The lines and patterns vibrate with enormous energy. Linda Karshan’s drawings extend a balance for which the battle is endlessly renewed; in which deviation and assailability are inherent. Often the structures drawn on the sheet lean a little to the right. With only minimal differences within the confines of the series. A sailing ship is always inclined in the wind, in its pressure. So as to keep moving forward. To navigate in broad open space.

CV

Born 1947; lives and works in London

1947         born Minneapolis (Minnesota/USA)
                 lives and works in London and Connecticut (USA)
1963         Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, New York
1967         Walker Art Center, Minneapolis (Minnesota/USA)
1967-68    Sorbonne, Paris
1970         Slade School, London
1983         Master’s degree in Art and Psychology at Antioch University, London

Solo Exhibitions (selection)

2010         It’s A Greek Thing, Cain Schulte Contemporary Art, Berlin (D)
                 It´s A Greek Thing: New Edition of 10 Drypoints and Jottings, Galerie Hein Elferink, Staphorst (NL)
                 Movements and their Images, Galerie Biedermann, München (D)
                 Movements and their Images, Redfern Gallery, London (UK)
                 Movements and their Images, Rhode Contemporary, Copenhagen (DK)
                 Strich für Strich, Galerie Werner Klein, Köln (D)

2009         Die Gegenwart der Linie, Pinakothek der Moderne, München
                 Zeichnung als Prozess, Museum Folkwang Essen
                 3. Biennale der Zeichnung, Eislingen
                 Galerie Werner Klein, Köln

2008         Time Being, a 15 year retrospective, Cain Schulte Gallery, San Francisco
                 Zeichnung als Prozess, Museum Folkwang Essen (D)
                 3. Biennale der Zeichnung, Eislingen (D)
                 Early drawings, Galerie Werner Klein, Cologne (D)

2007         Two clear days, Redfern Gallery, London
                 on paper, Galerie Werner Klein, Cologne (D) and Gallery N. von Bartha, London
                 Alumni Invitational 2, The Tang Teaching Museum, Skidmore College NY

2006         Galerie Biedermann, Munich (D)
                 Alles Zeichnung, Galerie Werner Klein, Cologne (D)

2005         august form 2005, Galerie Werner Klein, Cologne (D)
                 minimal means, Kunstverein Eislingen (D)
                 De Balthus a Zeller, Michel Soskine Inc., Madrid

2004         Innen - Aussen, Galerie Werner Klein, Cologne (D)
                 Riflemaker Gallery, London
                 The Redfern Gallery, London

2003         galerie biedermann, Munich
                 august form 2002, Galerie Werner Klein, Cologne (D)
                 Kettle´s Yard, Cambridge (GB)

2002         The Redfern Gallery, London
                 Institut Valencià d´Art Modern, IVAM, Valencia (E)
                 Sir John Soane´s Museum, London

2001         Dee-Glasgow Gallery, New York

2000         Michael Martin Gallery, San Francisco (USA)

1999         galerie biedermann, Munich (D)

1998         The Redfern Gallery, London

1997         Sandra Gering Gallery, New York
                 galerie biedermann, Munich (D)

1996         The Redfern Gallery, London

1995         Montgomery-Glasoe Fine Art, Minneapolis (MN) (USA)

1994         galerie biedermann, Munich (D)

1993         Montgomery-Glasoe Fine Art, Minneapolis (MN) (USA)

1991         galerie biedermann, Munich (D)

1984-86    ASB Gallery, London

Works in private/public collections

Arts Council, London (UK)
The British Museum, London (UK)
Collection Werner Kramarsky, New York (USA)
Institut Valencia d´Art Modern, IVAM (E)
Staatliche Graphische Sammlung München (D)
Sammlung Hanck - museum kunst palast, Düsseldorf (D)
Sammlung Herzog Franz von Bayern, München (D)
Tate, London (UK)
Walker Art Center, Minneapolis/Minnesota (USA

Group Exhibitions

2011         Magna Carta – Art/Paper, Cain Schulte Contemporary Art, San Francisco/Berlin
                 Picasso to Julie Mehretu: Modern Drawings from the British Museum Collection,
                 British Museum, London (UK)
2010         Modern Times, Kettle´s Yard, Cambrdige (UK)                                 
                 Inaugural Exhibition, Folkwang Museum (New Wing), Essen (D)
                 Lines In Space: Paule Vézelay & Linda Karshan, England & Co., London (UK)
                 Inaugural Group Show, Cain Schulte Contemporary Art, San Francisco (USA)
                 Modern Times, De La Warr Pavilion (UK)
                 Group Print Exhibition, Leipzig (D)
                 The Courtauld Collects: 20 Years of Acquisitions, The Courtauld Gallery, London (UK)
2006         X-06, MMGalleries, San Francisco (USA)
2001         Unexpected Encounters, Galleria Prisma, Bolzano, (I)
2000         Underlying Perfection, Gallery Fine, London (UK)
1999         White Out, Fine Gallery, London (UK)
1997         Redfern Gallery, London (UK)
                 Contemporary British Drawings, Edward Tyler-Nahem Fine Art, New York (USA)
                 Montgomery-Glasoe Fine Art, Minneapolis, Minnesota (USA)
1995          Redfern Gallery, London (UK)
1990         Runkel-Hue-Williams Gallery, London (UK)
1988         The Legacy of Surrealism in Contemporary Art, Ben Shahn Galleries,
                 William Paterson College, Wayne, New Jersey (USA)
1986         Drawings, Lorence-Monk Gallery, New York (USA)
1985         New Talent, Allan Stone Gallery, New York (USA)

Art Fairs

2010         Art Amsterdam
                 Art Fair, Karlsruhe
                 Art Chicago
                 Scope Basel
                 Liste, Art Basel
                 Armory Print Fair, New York