Ed Anthony, Zaha Hadid, 2016. Drawing.

“Drawing is the basis of everything in my life, it is what keeps me in tune”
Ed Anthony
‘Portraits: Refocus’ is a charcoal drawings show to celebrate six iconic architects who are making an impact on our built environment.
As a self-taught artist and professional architectural model maker, it seemed natural to draw the architects around me. After all, drawing and model making are two disciplines that both share a common denominator: they require a high level of skill and patience with a keen eye and attention to the small details.
An exhibition of the faces in contemporary architecture is my natural and harmonious response to the architectural design industry that I have been involved in for the last 11 years. To make the drawings, I required the involvement of some of the most innovative international architects. All of whom have a varied approach to design philosophy, whilst sharing a common goal to strive for excellence in both theory and practice.
The portrait of each architect lays bare an intimacy rarely seen by the general public. I wanted to capture the architect’s raw characteristics with a human element by focussing on the faces rather than surroundings.
Influenced by the language of architecture, I’ve incorporated a vertical rhythm in my portraits. I build layers in the drawing to create an image that has a three-dimensional feel whilst maintaining depth, a focal point, and a delicate balance of form and cast shadow. This is where the true characteristics unfold within each individual portrait.
My artworks respond to the exhibitions theme of time, space and existence within the aesthetic of my drawing. Each portrait provokes an emotion captured in a split second of time by the naked eye. At a distance it isn’t immediately clear what the nature of the drawing is. It isn’t until you investigate under closer inspection as if to put an area of the portrait under a spotlight that the illusion of abstraction disappears, to unveil a truth within the artwork.
The final appearance of these drawings may have a delicate balance of execution and composition but the journey to get to that point couldn’t have been more turbulent. To arrive here a battle took place that you sometimes win and sometimes lose within the process of mark making.
Drawing is a very intimate experience. Trusting instinct, by being in tune, and using the whole of you. From your eyes, through your body to your arm, to the instrument you are holding to make that first sensuous mark on paper. Reflecting, refocusing and re-adjusting the eye with each mark made, the drawing begins to breathe life in the confines of space.