Ballpoint Art

Book excerpt: This stunning book is the first compendium of art made with ballpoint pens. Ballpoint drawing has evolved into a thriving art form since the pen emerged as a writing tool in the 1940s, when the Hungarian journalist and inventor László Bíró fled war-torn Europe and began manufacturing the pens in Argentina. Throughout the 1950s and '60s, as the ballpoint became cheaper and more accessible, Alberto Giacometti, Jean Dubuffet, Andy Warhol, Francis Bacon, Nam June Paik, Louise Bourgeois, and many others, sketched with the pens. Today, those who make art with ballpoint pen are no longer confined by size or style. They draw on sculpture, wallpaper, canvas, architecture, and 50-foot sheets of paper, depicting a wide range of subjects – from psychologically charged portraits to mutant animals to abstract scribbles. This book features 30 artists from around the world who are currently creating masterpieces with ballpoint, and discusses their methods, the messages in their work, and their personal connections to the pen.