Drake Carr

Paris-based Mariposa Gallery is pleased to present Les Walk-ins, a residency and exhibition of live drawings by New York-based artist Drake Carr.

In Les Walk-ins, Carr makes the gallery his studio, inviting subjects– artists, friends, models, acquaintances, and strangers from the Parisian milieu– to pose for a portrait in a scene designed by the artist. The resulting works are installed on the gallery walls as the residency progresses, documenting the sessions in real time.

Carr also uses the city of Paris as a backdrop for his portraits, drawing in apartments, cafes, hotel rooms, museums, and parks. In this way, Carr enters into dialogue with the history of American artists who have come to the city for inspiration. In particular, Carr’s life-drawing practice recalls the work of Antonio Lopez and Juan Ramoz, two American fashion illustrators who captured the style of their time in New York and Paris in the 1970s and 1980s.

The residency-exhibition model explores the spontaneity and collaborative nature of live-drawing. The works are a result of the dynamic interplay between the model, their style and energy, and the artist’s interpretation of them. The cumulation of the drawing sessions amount to an exhibition that captures a snapshot of contemporary Paris, represented by some of its most stylish characters.

Les Walk-ins is Carr’s first exhibition in France, following recent projects with a similar model at New York Life Gallery and Artists Space in New York City.

Drake Carr (b. 1993 Flint, Michigan) is an artist and illustrator. He is known for his energetic figurative paintings, drawings, and sculptures which he has exhibited internationally. His work has been published widely, including in Artforum, Vogue, W Magazine, I-D, and Cultured. His artwork was featured on the cover of Art in America’s Summer 2023 Issue. Recent portrait subjects include Pat Cleveland, Karlie Kloss, Tonne Goodman, Nancy Grace, and Raul Lopez. Carr lives and works in New York City.