A digital self-portrait by Chuck Close is part of a "Works on Paper" at Carnegie Museum. Click photo for larger image.

The best and brightest of recent acquisitions" is the sprightly way Elizabeth Thomas, Carnegie Museum of Art associate curator of contemporary art, characterizes the contents of the exhibition "On Paper III: Selections From the Permanent Collection."

The classification "works on paper" once conjured visions of finely detailed engravings, often from a century removed. But, as with all other forms, the category now covers a wide range of expression by artists and interpretation by curators, especially in this first exhibition in the Works on Paper gallery drawn from the contemporary portion of the collection.

The show is reflective of the rest of the Carnegie's contemporary galleries -- chic and globally urbane. Many of the artists are also represented in the collection by work in other media, and as in the permanent collection galleries, works by Carnegie International artists are peppered throughout.

Most notable of these is "Ruckkehr" by Neo Rauch, a towering and dramatic 106-inch by 82-inch work that, as Thomas observes, is a "fully realized oil painting on paper." It's the second work on display at the museum by this member of the currently hot Leipzig artists, named for the German town where Rauch was born in 1960 and where he still lives. The other, "Art" of 2002, which hangs in Gallery 17 among purchases from Carnegie International 2004-05 artists, is an oil on canvas that reflects the influence of Socialist Realism, which was prominent in the once-East Germany where he grew up. This 2004 painting exemplifies his recent direction and is, if possible, more enigmatic, moodier in palette and surrealistic in manner.

He's "an artist transmitting a message to us through his mind," Thomas says, contrasting Rauch with artists who more directly address political or cultural issues.

Other CI04-05 artists represented are Jeremy Deller, by a political work from the "Utopia Section: Poster Project," distributed about Venice as a part of the 2003 Biennale; Peter Doig by his oil on paper study (as with the Rauch, a complete painting in itself) for the painting "Driftwood," which hung in CI04-05 and is also currently displayed in Gallery 17; Carsten Holler by a dozen "Mushroom Prints," which explore the senses-stimulating properties of the red and white fly agaric fungus that grows near his Swedish home, a property similar to the one he sought to investigate in his CI04-05 "Solandara Greenhouse;" and Trisha Donnelly's "Sea Battles."

Neo Rauch, whose work was exhibited in the last Carnegie International, reflects his recent turn toward surrealism. Click photo for larger image.

The latter "eight pencil on paper drawings for a performance" comprise a score for piano that Donnelly performed only once, in 2001 in Berlin. Derived from the charted strategic plans for the movement of ships during significant naval battles, the musical score incorporates an element of "chance" as championed by the late avant-garde composer John Cage.

These few illustrate the range of expression one encounters in today's art world, but the exhibition is far more wide-ranging.

Previous International artists include such important figures as Richard Diebenkorn, Sol LeWitt, Elizabeth Murray and Gerhard Richter.

Highlights include Japanese Yasumasa Morimura having "An Inner Dialogue With Frida Kahlo" in his saucy signature style, South African Marlene Dumas' nude and vulnerable "Figment (Hommage to Andy Warhol)," and American Lebbeus Woods' "World Center project," a co-purchase with the Heinz Architectural Center. Calling Woods a "hypothetical architect," Thomas explains that this conceptual plan for the World Trade Center site calls for a building "continually in evolution and always alive, always being built upon, a living thing."

Less heralded but enticing are Vija Celmins' ephemeral-appearing "Untitled (Web 4)," the altered vintage pulp magazine covers of Mexican tattoo artist Dr. Lakra, and Christian Holstad's disturbing and visually impregnating imagery that effects a "re-purposing of mass media," Thomas says, through erasure and charcoal overdrawing.

Works on paper usually form "the bulk" of most museum collections, Thomas says, pragmatically, because they're generally less expensive, and because when they are purchased they are frequently in portfolios comprising numerous works.

	"An Inner Dialogue With Frida Kahlo," a photograph by Yasumasa Morimura, continues the artist's conceptual exploration of historical artworks. Click photo for larger image.

But there are sound aesthetic reasons too. It's a way to collect the work of a single artist in depth, showing different facets of, or a span of production time in, his/her career. Sometimes the piece is a study or sketch related to a prominent work in the collection. Some are simply things that can't exist otherwise, she says, giving as illustration the elegantly calligraphed " 'Conformation' note with envelope" that performance artist James Lee Byars sent to the museum's Women's Committee in response to their invitation to appear here in 1965, mounted as an artwork in the exhibition and raising the question of Byars' intent. And it is a way to fill in collection gaps for artists whose work is unaffordable or unavailable, such as Chuck Close and Dan Flavin, represented respectively by a digital "Self-portrait" and "Projects" etchings, handsome and informative in their own right, rather than by paint and light.

Finally, it is the medium of choice for many contemporary artists.

There are more than 6,000 objects in the collection from 1945 to the present, Thomas says, and more than 4,000 of them are works on paper that can't be considered for permanent display because of their sensitivity to light damage. But they can contribute to maintaining a presence for contemporary art among museum visitors, which Thomas stressed is important.

A goal is to not "treat contemporary art like a festival [that only happens occasionally] -- but as part of the continuity" of the museum's mission, Thomas says.

Changing exhibitions of contemporary art in the Works on Paper Gallery is one way to "cultivate an audience" for it, Thomas says, "filling the gap between Internationals."

The acquisition of and exhibition of the works herein very capably play dual roles -- enriching visitors now while compiling a record of this time and place for future generations.

"On Paper" continues through Oct. 9. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday, with additional summer hours through August from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday. Admission is $10, seniors $7, students and children $6, members free. For information, call 412-622-3131 or visit www.cmoa.org.