Art Exhibition Opening: "Susan Seydel Cofer '64--Draw Near"

Organized by the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, and curated by Michael Rooks, the High Museum's Wieland Family Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, "Draw Near" presents the first career survey of drawings by Atlanta-based artist and Hollins alumna Susan Seydel Cofer '64. For more than three decades, Cofer has been recognized in the Southeast for her painstakingly delicate, abstract drawings. "Susan Cofer: Draw Near" features over 60 drawings dating from 1975 to the present day. Working with colored pencils in a labor-intensive process, Cofer slowly "carves" away the paper's surface with short, vertical strokes. Images inspired by nature emerge from the resulting network of pencil lines, evoking organisms in embryonic stages of development. More recently, Cofer's work has been based upon wide-open panoramic landscapes and topographies, suggesting the mapping of places and terrains. Her drawings, whose delicate and highly detailed surfaces beg for close scrutiny, invite the viewer literally to "draw near." In conjunction with the exhibition, a selection of Cofer's unique sculpted portraits honoring people she knows in Atlanta and farther afield will also be on view. After spending several months carefully researching each individual, she then uses materials and imagery that have deeply personal significance to each sitter to sculpt remarkable portraits that often incorporate miniature visual clues of their respective careers and passions. Susan Seydel Cofer received her BA in art history from Hollins in 1964 and went on to do postgraduate work in studio art at Georgia State University in 1970. Her work has been the subject of numerous exhibitions at museums such as Southeastern Museum of Contemporary Art, Winston-Salem, NC; the Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia, Atlanta; the High Museum of Art, Atlanta; and PS2 Paragon Studios Project Space, Belfast, Northern Ireland. In addition, her work is in several private, public, university, and museum collections nationwide. Exhibition through September 13. Hours are Tuesday-Friday, 10 am-4 pm; Saturday 1-5 pm.