Christina Ramberg

I walked into Nicole Klagsburn gallery yesterday and saw a group show that included the work of 'Christina Ramberg'. They were showing some little pen drawings she did of torsos bound by corsets and women binding their hair. Never having seen her work, I assumed she was a young living artist. In fact, they look a lot like what would be shown out at Pierogi. I checked the price on the drawings and it was around $2500 each which meant I couldn't have one! A little internet research told me that she was actually a contemporary of Eva Hesse and worked Chicago from the 60's to late 80's. Her drawings weren't made for exhibition, just used as studies for larger paintings. Yet to me they are so much more interesting than her paintings. There's so much narrative in these little drawings if you compare one image to the next. A head bound in a scarf will morph into a domestic object like a slice of bread or head of lettuce. A corseted body turns into a vessel or land mass on a map.

Here's one of her paintings: