In Situ

In Situ is a project by British-French-American artist John William Bailly to create a subjective atlas of the world through en plein air drawings.

Bailly draws places as he explores cities and landscapes. Drawing is his manner of processing the world to develop a sense of place. The works on paper inform his large paintings. Working in situ, on location en plein air, is essential to Bailly’s practice, as it records a direct experience and perspective of place. The drawings document not only the appearance of a place but also the ambiance, weather, and time.

Bailly has self-imposed a set of guidelines for the works. The drawings are intentionally limited to the most rudimentary medium-stone on wood, that is graphite/lead on Arches watercolor paper. They are all 7 x 10 inches / 18 x 26 centimeters. The works must be started and finished on location-in one sitting. The works do not rely on photography or other sources but rather only human perception in that time and place. Weather, closing times of monuments, human interaction, hunger, a ship or train departure time, and other situational factors all influence the making of the drawing.

As Bailly stated, “I am forever aware that we are moving through time and place in a singular manner. I have produced hundreds of drawings of diverse places, from Cap Spartel in northwestern Africa to Ko Samui in southeast Asia. The drawings are above all a documentation of the particular moment that I am making the drawing-am I in direct sun, is someone speaking to me, is a place closing, is it raining, am I out of water? The drawings are the reflection of a moment of existence at a certain time rather than a visual record.”

Bailly cites Auerbach, Lu Hong, Rembrandt, Serra, and Zuang Lu as direct inspirations to the In Situ project.

Bailly’s In-Situ drawings aim to capture fleeting moments in timeless settings.