“Hypergraphia: Gwyneth Leech, the Cup Drawings, Studio in the Prow,” has been described as “spellbinding” and a “New York treasure.” It is is the first of several exhibits that curator Cheryl McGinnis has arranged to exhibit in Sprint’s strategically placed space adjacent its store at 175 5th Ave., at the crossroads with Broadway and 23rd Street. Offering 24/7 views of the works on display from the north, west and east, the live-action exhibit includes hundreds of finished works suspended from the ceiling, and the artist seated among them, intently toiling away to produce more.
Ms. Leech has been sitting in the panoramic exhibit space for five days each week since September 20, 2011, drawing and painting on more than 700 used paper coffee cups and then hanging them on fishline from the ceiling of the peninsular tip of the historic Flatiron building. News of the exhibit has reached around the globe, as visitors from near and far have shared their experiences on Facebook and Twitter as well as on hundreds of blogs and photo sites in more than a dozen different languages.
Hypergraphia is an overwhelming desire to write or, in Ms. Leech’s case, draw. Others may see a paper coffee cup as a vessel in which to transport a beverage. Ms. Leech sees a blank canvas on which she can visually express experiences that inspire her as she peers out of her temporary studio or goes about everyday Manhattan life. Each “canvas” comes from her personal use or from others who donate them. Rather than “recycled,” Ms. Leech prefers to look at the cups as “upcycled,” conveying the fact that they have been repurposed for a greater use. Before she begins work on a cup, she writes the date, location and occasion on which she consumed its contents, creating what she calls “a record of a social moment.”
The exhibit itself has created many such social moments for Ms. Leech. At times she interacts through the glass with spectators young and old who marvel at her finished works or watch her meticulously cover another salvaged cup. On other occasions she has found herself engaged in impromptu conversation when she has stepped outdoors to take in the view herself or to clean the nose marks and fingerprints off the windows. Over the months, hundreds of intrepid souls have even been so intrigued as to enter the Prow and spend time speaking with Ms. Leech and drawing a cup of their own to take home.
With fewer than three weeks before Hypergraphia completes its extended stay, Ms. Leech says she hopes to record many more moments as others pause to rethink the common coffee cup.
“We are taking the exhibit down on February 18, but there is still plenty of time for others to come see the cups that I have created and, should the mood strike, make a design of their own to take home and begin their own upcycling project,” she said. “Sprint has been most gracious in extending our stay by several months, but it is time to move on and give the next artist a chance to experience this wonderful space.”
Ms. Leech has been chronicling her experience sitting and drawing in the Prow on her blog, “Gwyneth’s Full Brew,” and posting photos of some of the many cups now hanging in the space. Recent additions have included a series of cups on which she has sketched images of those looking in at her while she draws. For more information, visit www.gwynethsfullbrew.com or follow @gwynethleech on Twitter.
About Gwyneth Leech and Hypergraphia
Gwyneth Leech earned her Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelor of Fine Arts and Post-Graduate Diploma at Edinburgh College of Art, in Scotland. The recipient of numerous awards and grants, including a Glasgow District Council’s European Capital of Culture Project Grant, Scottish Arts Council Time-Based Media Award, University of Colorado’s President’s Fund Grant and Elizabeth Greenshields Memorial Award, Leech has produced work that resides in important private and public collections such as the American Museum in Bath, England; the British Broadcasting Corporation; Dumfries and Galloway Regional Council of Scotland; Edinburgh City Art Galleries; the Royal Bank of Scotland; Strathclyde University in Glasgow, Scotland; and the Theater Royal, also in Glasgow. Her museum shows and gallery exhibitions include the Southwest Minnesota State University Art Museum, Marshall, MN; La MaMa La Galleria in New York City; the United Kingdom’s Rosewell House Art Gallery and Museum in Ayr, Scotland, The Dick Institute Art Gallery and Museum in Kilmarnock, Scotland and the Dundee Museum of Natural History; and the Gallery of Contemporary Art at the University of Colorado in Colorado Springs, Colo.
“Hypergraphia: Gwyneth Leech, The Cup Drawings,” was curated by Cheryl McGinnis and is presented at the Flatiron by Sprint and Cheryl McGinnis Projects (www.cherylmcginnisgallery.com). Cheryl McGinnis Gallery is dedicated to engaging collectors and patrons of the arts with a deeper look at the artist’s process by hosting interactive gallery talks, artist studio tours, and Art-E, an educational program for children and adults. In 2011, Hypergraphia heralded the launch of Cheryl McGinnis Projects, a series of process-oriented installations with related experiential events and workshops that take the artist and viewer outside of the traditional gallery space and into the space and mind of the artist.
