The drawings in this series are a part of Joana Avillez’s solo show, The Bottom of the Harbor, on view at Picture Room from May 28-June 24, 2026. The exhibition presents illustrations made over the course of five years for the Penguin re-issue of Joseph Mitchell’s 1944 book of essays of the same name.
In her introduction, Avillez writes: “By drawing something you get to hold it, see its shape, decide what is important to include. By drawing something you know what is there even when it is not obviously visible: You have to see the back of things to draw the front.” From a pencil sketch in the corner of an ink drawing, to a glued-together tableau of a harbor stretching nearly four feet long, the works in this series invite the viewers behind the scenes of Avillez’s illustration process: embracing signs of labor rather than seeking to gloss them over.
Joana Avillez, b. 1986, New York, received a BFA in painting from The Rhode Island School of Design, and an MFA in illustration at School of Visual Arts. She is the author of Life Dressing and illustrated Not That Kind of Girl by Lena Dunham. Most recently, she has illustrated the Penguin Random House 2026 re-issue of Joseph Mitchell’s The Bottom of the Harbor. Her illustrations can be found in The New York Times, Vogue, New York Magazine, Cosmopolitan, Refinery29, Paper Magazine, and more.
Pen and pencil on paper, Signed
Unique
4.5" x 9"
