Drawing Restraint 7 1993

Matthew Barney made this drawing at an unknown date using graphite. Barney constrains his own body when drawing and performing, and here, the image is constrained by graphite. The tones in the image are muted, the figures grapple with some kind of bar, but also with each other. I imagine Barney’s frustration, but also his pleasure at coming up against something he cannot move; his pleasure at not being able to escape the process. We see the marks he has made, like the lines of a bodybuilder, a wrestler, or an actor. They show the sheer muscular effort and the intense physical presence needed to perform with graphite. The figures have become bestial, grotesque, mythical – maybe they are not human at all? The piece reminds me of Carolee Schneemann and her intense exploration of her own body. Like Schneemann, Barney shows how artists are constantly reinventing and expanding our understanding of what art can be.