Written by You might not expect the visual interpretation of the connections between international corporations, government entities, and other shadowy powers and people to be lyrical—but that’s the achievement of Mark Lombardi, the artist whose delicate, filigreed drawings are the subject of a mesmerizing show at Pierogi gallery in Williamsburg.
Working before the days of Google with an archive of books and databases, Lombardi devised a style that united art and investigative reporting, producing enormous, elegant flow charts that are in the collections of museums like the Whitney and MoMA.
Also on view at Pierogi are his drafting tools, architectural templates, a sampling of his 14,5000 index cards, and library of books on themes ranging from modernist art to espionage to drug policy in minority communities, along with a video interview in which Lombardi (who died in 2000) explains how his style evolved from his obsessive research out of “sheer necessity.”
Even now, with all our high-tech tools, it is hard to imagine a clearer way to depict the intricate web of influence and relationships that connect the players in complex events like the Reagan drug war, the savings and loan crises, and other political and financial frauds all over the world.