DRAWN in San Antonio

Drawn in San Antonio—Today highlights the work of twenty-two San Antonio-based artists and expands on the definition of drawing. A departure from the basic understanding of a drawing being lines on paper, sometimes contemporary drawings are made with unconventional materials like animations rendered on a computer screen. Contemporary drawings can also incorporate photographic imagery and elements of collage. Using both traditional and nontraditional materials, seemingly unrelated content conveys unexpected connections and meanings.

In San Antonio’s thriving and supportive arts community, artists are not only committed to their own artistic practices but also encourage their colleagues. As is the current reality for most, the artists in this exhibition have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. All the artwork on display reveals that the creative impulse endures even in times of great adversity, and some works of art refer directly to the lockdown experience. This exhibition is in support of vital members of the community and gives a sense of the range of contemporary drawing produced in San Antonio.

Drawn in San Antonio—Today is organized for the McNay Art Museum by Lyle W. Williams, Curator of Prints and Drawings, Curator of Modern Art; and Rafael Fernando Gutierrez Jr., the inaugural Douglass Foundation Intern in Curatorial Studies.Lead funding is generously provided by the Elizabeth Huth Coates Foundation of 1992.