TERRE HAUTE, IN.- The University Art Gallery at Indiana State University will open the exhibit Evidence and Residues: An Investigation of Contemporary Drawing starting on January 10 and running through February 2, 2007. "Paradoxically, despite drawing's moniker as 'the mother of the arts,' and the widely held belief that it serves as the basis for both painting and sculpture, it has historically been marginalized as a preparatory medium or process, rather than being considered an art form in itself.

Drawing as a verb; [conceptual art] became a prime site of experimentation and a conceptual device, primarily because of its ability to directly express the artists' decision-making process between thinking and doing

[Drawing] as both a verb and a noun -- utilizing drawing as a fundamental and continuous part of the creative process and also as their primary medium.

Conversant with the tenets of Conceptualism and cognizant of the primacy and power of drawing, [many artists famous for their conceptual media] have overturned drawing's traditional bounds as a medium by making it the primary formal and conceptual process of their work. The properties that have long since defines drawing -- its ability to register gesture and demonstrate process; its immediacy, physicality and emphasis on line; its relationship with architecture and associations with mapping and charting; and its ability to communicate narrative -- have moved it to the forefront of contemporary art practice, as its subjective mature a perfect vehicle for announcing the presence of the artist. Having passed through the transformative era of conceptual art, the artist returned, the art object has rematerialized."