DECEMBER 1 – DECEMBER 22, 2005
THE DRAWINGS OF JONATHAN LERMAN
Jonathan Lerman is an artist with autism. He is unable to converse so we cannot ask what inspires him or what triggered him to suddenly begin drawing at the age of ten. Today, at seventeen, Jonathan is prolific and shows no signs of slowing down. He has been featured in the New York Times, on The Today Show. He is in high demand because, as an artist with autism, he draws faces with uncanny insight. Publicity is not something he’s keen about, says gallery owner Kerry Schuss, his representative in New York City who bravely took Jonathan on at the age of twelve – something his colleagues in the industry felt he was crazy for doing. ‘He has trouble with crowds and cannot stop moving around. When you see him, you might think he isn’t capable of anything.’
Lyle Rexer, who wrote a book about Jonathan and also How to Look at Outsider Art writes: ‘Looking at Jonathan’s work is an affirmation that he sees everything. Working with the assurance of Matisse and the speed of Picasso, and the humour born of a cartoonist, Lerman has created an unforgettable body of work. His drawings include portraits of actual figures as well as figures from his own imagination, and rendered with great acuity. These drawings overturn the stereotype of the so-called savant artists as an unchanging talent sprung to life fully-formed. Instead, Lerman shows the detail, the restless experimentation and rapid growth of an artistic sensibility.’
