Alice Aycock Drawings Some Stories Are Worth Repeating

Alice Aycock (b. 1946) emerged onto the New York art scene in the 1970s and is best known for her large-scale public sculptures that often combine an industrial appearance with references to weightlessness as well as to science and cosmology. Aycock also has embraced the practice of drawing throughout her enormously productive career. Alice Aycock: Drawingsis the first exploration of her spectacular drawings, which include elements of mirage, fantasy, and science, and evoke both abstract thinking and bodily sensation. The works on paper featured in this handsome volume highlight the major themes that have governed her artistic practice: the role of architecture as a founding point of reference; the importance of mechanics and structure; and references to nature. As author Jonathan Fineberg demonstrates, Aycock is an artist who thinks on paper. Her works are often equal parts engineering plan and science fiction imagining. Visualizing such contradictions allows us to, in her words, transport ourselves "farther into another place."

Jonathan Fineberg is visiting presidential professor at University of Nebraska and adjunct curator at Parrish Art Museum. Terrie Sultan is director of the Parrish Art Museum.