Art21 New York Close Up

Louise Despont Draws Deep

Artist Louise Despont draws with a mechanical pencil and ruler to create Mediated Polarity and the Third Property (2014) on the floor of her home and studio (Fort Greene, Brooklyn, 02.14.14). Production still from the ART21 New York Close Up film Louise Despont Draws Deep. © ART21, Inc. 2014.

Artist Louise Despont draws with a mechanical pencil and ruler to create Mediated Polarity and the Third Property (2014) on the floor of her home and studio (Fort Greene, Brooklyn, 02.14.14). Production still from the ART21 New York Close Up film Louise Despont Draws Deep. © ART21, Inc. 2014.

How does an artist get maximum results out of minimal means? In a new film from the ART21 New York Close Up series, artist Louise Despont uses architectural stencils to create intricate pencil-on-paper drawings in her home and studio in Fort Greene, Brooklyn. Working between a small desk and her bedroom floor, Despont’s daily practice, with a limited set of tools, yields surprising discoveries. “To be focused and dedicated to doing one simple thing can perhaps be the most transformative thing,” says the artist, “That as narrow as it is, it can be infinitely deep.” This film documents Louise Despont and her assistant Nicole Wong over the course of six weeks as they create Mediated Polarity and the Third Property (2014), a multi-panel drawing on antique ledger book paper. Looking through her private notebooks, Despont reveals how years of experimentation with collage, ink blots, and freehand drawing led her to the incredibly refined process she uses today. The artist shares how each new drawing emerges organically, such as large-scale Roman Room (2014), often begun without a formal plan and initiated with just a few marks. “It’s a complexity that you can’t think up. It’s like little mineral deposits build up and make an entire surface.” As intuitive explorations of symmetry born out of pure geometry, Despont’s drawings tap into universal themes of energy, spirituality, and nature. The film concludes as Despont takes her latest drawing Garden (2014) to be framed at White Mule in Chelsea, looking at it one last time before it begins its journey out into the world. Also featuring the works Hive Mind No.10, Hatch (2014); Dandelion Constellation I (2014); Bathing Constellation, Dusk (2012); Sandglass (2012); DI-EH (2010); and Blue Moon, Pondicherry (2010); with music by Antonio Vivaldi—Concerto in B flat Major: VIII Allegro vivace—and Johann Sebastian Bach—Cello Suite No.4 in E flat: V Serabande Bouree No.2 and VI Serabande Gigue.

Louise Despont (b. 1983, New York, New York, USA) lives and works in Brooklyn, New York.

CREDITS | ART21 New York Close Up Created & Produced by: Wesley Miller & Nick Ravich. Producer & Editor: Rafael Salazar & Ava Wiland. Cinematography: Rafael Salazar. Sound: Ava Wiland. Associate Producer: Ian Forster. Design & Graphics: Crux Studio, Open. Artwork: Louise Despont. Music: J.S. Bach, Musopen & Antonio Vivaldi. Thanks: Virgil Bailey, Nicelle Beauchene Gallery, Anne Gibbs, Jeremi Poulin & Nicole Wong. An ART21 Workshop Production. © ART21, Inc. 2014. All rights reserved.

ART21 New York Close Up is supported, in part, by The Lambent Foundation; the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council; The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts; and by individual contributors.