Frank Selby's Civil War-Inspired Drawings Explore Absence Through Historical Photographs at Museum 52

The exhibition "We Weren’t Never Here" by Frank Selby was showcased at Museum 52's Lower East Side from March 27 to April 26, 2008. This collection of drawings and paintings delved into the interplay between text and imagery, as well as the memory of the Civil War. Selby’s art captures the war's aftermath, focusing on absence and the constraints of historical photography. Notably, "Hollywood Forever" (2008) presents a diptych of graphite graveyard drawings. "Tilicho Lake" illustrates mirrored trees in water, while "Monumentnemunom" references Ed Ruscha's palindromes. Selby’s technique involves the extraction of text and images, drawing from Charles Peirce's theory of sign relations, and highlights symmetry and reflection in his work.