EFA STUDIO PROGRAM: Member Artists
Morgan O’Hara
LIVE TRANSMISSION: performative drawing
My work is culturally contextualized in the practice of drawing as a fundamental human endeavor and is continuous with the time-honored practice of drawing from life. It requires connection, direct observation and LIVE TRANSMISSION. I draw from and build on the historical continuum of the field. Through this work, I transcend the arbitrary "oppositions" between abstract and figurative art, between purely gestural expression and documentary intent, creating narrative work which results in a final product which is not figurative. The drawings themselves become a third actor or mediator in the experience. That which was beneath notice becomes concretized on the page as the paper receives the image. The method I have perfected requires close observation and actual drawing in real time with multiple razor-sharp pencils and both hands. I condense movement into accumulations of graphite line, combining the controlled refinement of classical drawing with the sensuality of spontaneous gesture. LIVE TRANSMISSIONS render visible normally invisible or fleeting movement patterns, through seismograph-like drawing. The theoretical base for the work is a visual transmission of the principle of vitality. British filmmaker Candid Richardson has made three films on my practice, one of which is presented here.
HANDWRITING THE CONSTITUTION: a performative social practice
In January of 2017 I began the performative social practice called HANDWRITING THE CONSTITUTION. People gather to handwrite documents created for the protection of human rights. By fall 2019, one hundred fourteen sessions have been held across the United States as well as internationally in Asia and Europe. Approximately 2000 people have participated.
For details and to participate, go to the website: www.handwritingtheconsitution.com
O'Hara's work is represented in the following international institutions (selected): The British Museum, London; National Gallery Washington, D.C.; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Kupferstichkabinett Berlin; Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; Czech National Gallery, Prague; Moravska Galerie, Brno CZ; Museum of Modern Art, Olomouc, CZ; Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, CA; Freije Universiteit, Amsterdam; MUT Museum of University of Tübingen, Germany, Henie Onstad Kunstcenter, Oslo, Norway; Weatherspoon Gallery, Greensboro, North Carolina; Museum of the University of Tübingen, Germany.
