Drawing People: The Human Figure in Contemporary Art

An intelligent, sensitive and beautifully illustrated survey of contemporary artists who place drawing and the human form at the heart of their practice

The act of drawing has long been considered the foundation of an artistic education, and the life class essential to the formation of an artist’s style and technique. Yet in the contemporary art world drawing is increasingly regarded as a medium in its own right, and the figure as a subject for ongoing exploration well beyond the sketchbook.

Drawing People is a thoughtful and beautifully illustrated survey of the most compelling and inventive drawings of the human form being produced today. An introduction places the medium of drawing in its historical context, discussing its intersection with photography, painting, collage and illustration.

Chapters on Body, Self, Personal Lives, Social Reality and Fictions include short introductions outlining each theme, followed by commentaries on individual artists exploring their style, ideas and techniques, accompanied by finely reproduced images of their recent work.

Roger Malbert is Senior Curator, Haywood Touring at the Haywood Gallery, London. He has been a judge for the Jerwood Drawing Prize, and his writing on Art has featured in The Independent, Art Monthly, Times Literary Suplement, The Art Newspaper and Modern Painters.