“Form can only take shape when it struggles against resistance.” (Matthew Barney) Begun in 1988 and regularly expanded since, Drawing Restraint, a complex of works by American artist Matthew Barney (born 1967) takes this notion as its starting point. Battling against self-imposed physical and psychological impairments, Barney performs artistic actions from which drawings, sculptures, vitrines, photographs and films emerge, known as “secondary forms”.
The exhibition at Schaulager will be based on the archive of this cycle of performances, sixteen to date, acquired by the Laurenz Foundation, the Foundation that operates Schaulager, together with the Museum of Modern Art, New York. They will be accompanied by two new Drawing Restraint actions. The exhibition’s curator, Neville Wakefield from New York, will juxtapose these works, alongside four large-scale sculptures by Barney, with a selection of northern renaissance paintings and works on paper containing Christian iconography.
In the book accompanying the exhibition, Drawing Restraint will be documented extensively in numerous illustrations and supporting written contributions. A section of photographs shot in the exhibition will present a view of the works in situ at Schaulager. Essays by Neville Wakefield (on the exhibition) and Bodo Brinkmann (addressing cross-references to the art of the Northern Renaissance), along with a conversation between the artist and the British psychiatrist and author Adam Phillips will add weight to the documentation. The catalogue will also contain an illustrated index of all works exhibited and a bibliography for further reading.

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