In 2008 the art world lost a truly influential artist. The Sylvia White Gallery invites you to join us as we pay tribute to the late Robert Graham with an exhibition of his drawings and sculptures. With his work belonging to over 20 museums, including Southern California's own Los Angeles County Museum of Art and Los Angeles' Museum of Contemporary Art, being able to view a piece of Graham's monumental career from the comfort our own backyard is an opportunity not to be missed.

Robert Graham's relationship with Southern California goes far beyond simply having a place in our museums. Although, he was born in Mexico City in 1938, he spent a large portion of his life in California. He studied at San Jose State College as well as the San Francisco Art Institute. Some of his most notable contributions to Los Angeles were the Olympic Gateway at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, which was commissioned for the 1984 Olympic games in Los Angeles, and The Great Bronze Door for the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles created in 2002. Venice, California was even the home of his studio where he worked until his death on December 27.

Graham's fascination with the human figure has led to the creation of an extensive collection of work that explores the body in a way that cannot be easily duplicated. His figures not only possess exquisitely accurate bodies anatomically, but also seem to house a passion and a soul that transcends his medium. From stiff muscular stances, to twisted and foreshortened poses, each figure Graham chose to create has a life of their own.

In the collection of drawings present at the Sylvia White Gallery we see how Graham explored the human body through unique angles, not usually captured in drawings. His studies of the female nude demonstrate his dramatic use of foreshortening, and harsh lines to create a sense of rawness in the female form. Bordering on erotic, Graham's imagery forces the viewer to question society's accepted notions of femininity and beauty. The Sylvia White Gallery will also showcase a small collection of wall-mounted sculptures that provide the viewer with a chance to experience his three-dimensional work first hand.