Stanley Whitney's 1990s Drawings Reveal Draftsmanship at Karma Books Exhibition

Karma Books on Great Jones Street in New York City presents a summer exhibition of Stanley Whitney's 1990s works, running through July 26, 2015. The show coincides with the gallery's publication of a 500-page career survey of the abstract painter. Drawings in water-soluble crayon, graphite, and other mediums, along with small oil sketches, are displayed salon-style on a soaring wall in the front section of the premises. Many pieces appear to have been torn from notebooks, offering viewers a rare glimpse into private artistic processes. Most drawings incorporate color, though even graphite works imply chromatic presence. Whitney has emphasized that drawings are crucial for understanding spatial relationships in his practice, stating they remain key to figuring out space and contain a "lucid stuff" that maintains concrete vitality. For viewers, the experience resembles rapidly passing scenes from a train—lines stack and rattle by violently, with colors seeming to possess agency rather than being deliberately chosen. The exhibition reveals Whitney as a consummate draftsman through intimate works that might never have been intended for public display.