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HUGO CROSTHWAITE MEETS WITH CURATORS
AT THE DRAWING CENTER IN NEW YORK CITY.

The Drawing Center
35 Wooster Street
New York, NY 10013

After months of working on what evolved to become a 13 x 10.5 foot monumental drawing on paper, Hugo Crosthwaite has completed Untitled - Atlanta 2005-06. This drawing, completed with graphite and charcoal on a heavy weight watercolor paper, is a testament to the exceptional talent and intense drive of Crosthwaite. This work, which combines figuration and architectural renderings, developed from the artist's memories of Tijuana and his experience of relocating to Atlanta, Georgia in early 2005.

Upon completing Untitled - Atlanta 2005-06 Hugo traveled to New York City to meet with curators at the Drawing Center. Early this year Hugo was admitted to the Drawing Center's Viewing Program and Slide Registry. Hugo received an overwhelming reception to the new work and engaged in critical discussion of the drawing with the curatorial staff.

The Drawing Center, established in 1977, is the only non-profit institution in the United States to focus on the exhibition of drawings and is recognized as "one of the city's most highly respected small art museums." (New York Times) The mission statement of the Drawing Center states that its goal is to demonstrate the significance and diversity of drawing throughout history, to juxtapose work by master figures with the work of emerging artists and to stimulate public dialogue on the issues of art and culture. In 2004 the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation offered The Drawing Center a space on the World Trade Center site. However, when it became clear that the Center's mission of free artistic expression and commitment to the first amendment would be compromised by the subjective restrictions placed upon participating institutions, the Drawing Center opted out.

While in New York, Hugo and Pierrette Van Cleve visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art - where Hugo experienced first hand, works by many of the masters that have inspired him for so many years, including Nicolas Poussin, El Greco, Ingres, Peter Paul Rubens and Jan Vermeer. Hugo and Pierrette also attended the Whitney Biennial and the Armory Show and spent hours walking the streets of downtown and the thriving artist's community in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

Following the trip, Hugo returned to Atlanta to blank studio walls and got to work straight away in preparation for David Zapf's, Art of Baja gallery exhibition which will open in early June on Kettner Boulevard in San Diego. Art of Baja will be a backdrop to the Museum of Contemporary Art - San Diego's presentation of Extraño Nuevo Mundo: Arte y Diseno Desde Tijuana, which will include a 24 x 192 inch, architectural drawing by Crosthwaite. Other artists, also included in the museum exhibition, will also be showing works at David Zapf Gallery.

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