Elise Engler Artist- Everything They Let me Draw

Elise Engler’s Everything They Let me Draw is rendered in colored pencils and was done in response to a request. An art exhibition was being held at a new York gallery and the organizers asked her to participate. Her response to that request was a set of more than 150 drawings. All of the drawings were done directly on a wall of the gallery.

Everything They Let me Draw can no longer be seen. The artwork only existed for a brief time. The artist only intended to show it as part of an exhibition and her work was removed when the show was complete.
People who visited the exhibition would have recognized the subject of her work. Elise Engler decided to draw inspiration (pun intended) for her drawings from what she could see all around her. She used her colored pencils to portray objects that were a regular part of the infrastructure of a building. For example, one drawing is made of electrical sockets.

Elise Engler is as famous for her drawings as printmaker Robert Blackburn in his preferred medium. She copied paintings that interested her to match the size of the other drawings in her piece. If there was an element in a particular painting in the exhibition that she liked, she took it and included it in her own work. The end result was a large collection of drawings, neatly organized in rows and columns.

The drawing at the bottom right corner of her piece is an image of an exit sign. Near the top left corner, several animals sit, state or prepare to pounce. Near the middle, two drawings of ants are strategically placed so that the insects appear to be conversing.

Everything They Let me Draw seems to be a reflection on the things that act as inspiration for artists. It includes images of nature that would inspire a photographer, and ordinary objects that a Minimalist artist would want to work with. There are copies of completed paintings included also. These remind us that artists often find inspiration by looking at other works of art.

Dan Flavin Fluorescent Light- Untitled 1969 and Other Artwork

Dan Flavin embraced the same concepts that many artists of his time did. He threw aside the idea of art as a form of self expression and instead, focused on allowing viewers to enjoy the beauty of the materials he used.

The 1960s was a time that was influenced by industry. Artists, like other members of society, are influenced by what they grow up with and what they see around them.

Minimalism- Concepts Associated with This Art Movement
Minimalist thought flourished during the 1960s. Artists embraced the idea that materials that were not previously thought of as artistic did have aesthetic value. Minimalism sought to bring out the beauty in everyday materials.

Dan Flavin- Working with Lights
Dan Falvin’s chosen medium was light bulbs. It always has been his preferred material. Many of us nowadays would be able to appreciate a beautifully sculpted bulb or a cleverly designed lamp. While he did look at light bulbs in this way at first, he soon started to look at new possibilities.

As time went on, Dan Flavin began to base his art on how light affected space and our perception of it. He used regular bulbs in his work and often, there was very little else in the installation.

His aim was not to bring a particular idea across. Instead, he wanted people who viewed his installations to enjoy the appearance of the space.

Dan Flavin Untitled
Dan Flavin’s most famous work is Untitled, done in 1969. This arrangement consists of four blue fluorescent light bulbs arranged in such a way that light reflects off the walls. When this happens, different shades of blue light are formed.

This artist's methods may seem simple when compared with those of an Impressionist painter, for example. However, the aim of artists associated with Minimalism was to allow each material they used to be recognized for its own beauty.