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The Arts Center at Duck Creek is pleased to present Ralph Stout: Commuter Drawings, on view in the Little Gallery from May 3 to June 8, 2025. A public reception will be held on Saturday, May 3, from 5–7 PM. Ralph’s daughter, Sara Stout, will hold a workshop on Sunday, May 4, from 3-4:30 PM.
This exhibition offers a rare opportunity to experience the quiet brilliance of long-time East End artist Ralph Stout through a series of intimate, abstract drawings made during his daily subway commutes in New York City. Created with felt tip pen on newsprint, the works transform routine travel into a ritual of observation and invention.
Each drawing—approximately 4¼ inches square—was executed directly on the pages of the New York Times. As Stout describes: “After reading the paper, I would often draw on its surface. The newspaper was the perfect canvas—each piece is almost exactly the same size, but each captures a different moment in time, with fragments of the day’s news still visible beneath the drawing.”
The exhibition, organized by Stout’s daughters, Georgie and Sara, features over 120 of these commuter drawings, installed in grid formation. The contrast between the organic line work and the rigid geometry of the printed page reflects a lifelong interest in patterns—both visual and conceptual.
