For his first solo museum exhibition in Chicago, Tony Lewis offers an introduction to his various uses of shorthand notation as a catalyst for drawing. Serving as a lively primer to his practice across more than a decade, the exhibition brings together works from multiple series, including new works. Gregg shorthand is a stenographic language that transcribes speech into quick, fluid strokes based on its sounds. Lewis carries its kinetic quality into his drawings as they become complex explorations of meaning, abstraction, and form. Often working at a large scale, Lewis has steadily developed an inventive practice that has drawing at its core, using his chosen materials in different ways to feel out what the medium can do. Taking off from the original uses of shorthand in settings beyond art, Lewis’s drawings take us to unexpected places as language and gesture converge in his marks on the page.
Curated by Karsten Lund
Image: Tony Lewis, Plunder (detail), 2017. Courtesy of the artist.
