Horizontal Body Drawing Series

2005-

Kordyan II, 2005, charcoal, pencil, book pages from Juliusz Słowacki Pisma (Kordyan) published in 1881 on rice paper, 38 x 72 inches

Arch I, 2019, charcoal, graphite on rice paper, 38 x 72 inches

Arch II, 2019, charcoal, graphite. oil pastel on rice paper, 38 x 72 inches

photographic documentation by Jean Vong

Essay Excerpt

Inspired by Hans Holbein the Younger’s painting, The Body of the Dead Christ in the Tomb (1521), Kordyan II (2005) is a large pencil and charcoal composition on rice paper depicting a prostrate body. The drawing includes two pages from the 1833 drama, Kordyan, by the Polish Romantic poet Juliusz Słowacki. The page on the left contains references to being a refugee (as Słowacki himself was), diaspora and an allusion to a mother and son relationship based on separation. The page on the right refers to the historical hero Arnold Winkelried who sacrificed himself in battle for the benefit of his country. The work responds both to internal visual relationships and external associations. It has been widely exhibited, including the Five Rivers survey of Weiss’ work at Lehman College Art Gallery, New York, in 2005; along with other large, independent drawings, the majority of which focus on the body and its expressive agency. [to read entire text press here]

Mark McDonald, Drawing Consciousness: Monika Weiss in Monika Weiss-Nirbhaya, Centre of Polish Sculpture in Orońsko, 2021, pp. 54 - 76

Exhibitions

Monika Weiss - Five Rivers, Lehman College Art Gallery, City University of New York, 2005-2006, curated by Susan Hoeltzel

Opening, Museum Montanelli, Prague, 2010, curated by Dadja Altenburg-Kohl

Monika Weiss: Monument | Anti-Monument, CEL Center for Architecture & Design, St. Louis, 2021, curated by Jasmin Aber

Exhibition Views