Oct 31, 2025
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“In 1994 I began a series of drawings I refer to as “narrative structures.” Most were executed in graphite or pen and ink on paper. Some are quite large, measuring up to 5 x 12 feet. I call them “narrative structures” because each consists of a network of lines and notations which are meant to convey a story, typically about a recent event of interest to me, like the collapse of a large international bank, trading company, or investment house. One of my goals is to explore the interaction of political, social and economic forces in contemporary affairs. Thus far I have exhibited drawings on BCCI, Lincoln Savings, World Finance of Miami, the Vatican Bank, Silverado Savings, Castle Bank and Trust of the Bahamas, Nugan Hand Limited of Sydney, Australia, and many more. Working from syndicated news items and other published accounts, I begin each drawing by compiling large amounts of information about a specific bank, financial group or set of individuals. After a careful review of the literature I then condense the essential points into an assortment of notations and other brief statements of fact, out of which an image begins to emerge. My purpose throughout is to interpret the material by juxtaposing and assembling the notations into a unified, coherent whole. In some cases I use a set of stacked, parallel lines to establish a time frame. Hierarchical relationships, the flow of money and other key details are then indicated by a system of radiating arrows, broken lines and so forth. Some of the drawings consist of two different layers of information—one denoted in black, the other, red. Black represents the essential elements of the story while the major lawsuits, criminal indictments or other legal actions taken against the parties are shown in red. Every statement of fact and connection depicted in the work is true and based on information culled entirely from the public record. – Mark Lombardi (Artist Statement)”
A Page from the Drawing Papers Archive
This page from Drawing Papers 40 features a detail of George W. Bush, Harken Energy, and Jackson Stephens, ca. 1979-90 made with graphite on paper by Mark Lombardi in 1999.
The 2003 exhibition Global Networks was the first major retrospective of New York artist Mark Lombardi (1951-2000) and it presented twenty-five of his complex and prescient diagrammatic drawings mapping secretive financial and political relationships. Curator Susette Min writes that Lombardi’s, “artistic practice merges aesthetics and ethics by calling upon the observer to look upon twentieth-century worldwide corruption without indifference, to take the time to pore over his diagrammatic allegories-to indulge in their beauty, but also to learn and to speculate, to indict and to act.”
The Drawing Papers are a series of publications documenting The Drawing Center’s exhibitions and public programs and providing a forum for the study of drawing. For more information about Drawing Papers 40, click here.
-Kate Robinson, Bookstore Manager
New Tool "Silent Partners" Empowers Citizens to Map Hidden Power Networks and Expose Scandals
Publication Date: July 18, 2025 Overview Key Takeaway: Investigative journalist Bradley Hope has launched a free web app that lets everyday people visualize complex networks of influence, drawing on public data to reveal connections in major scandals—potentially transforming how the public uncovers hidden truths. This development revives the legacy of artist Mark Lombardi, whose diagrams once…
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