Following Conceptualism, From Point A to Point B

No modern movement has been more successful in expanding the expressive possibilities of art than Conceptualism has. It has even scrambled conventional art disciplines, as evidenced by a thoughtful new exhibition at Yale University Art Gallery devoted to the humble role of lines in drawing. Around 60 drawings from the collection tell the tale of how drawing became dark, wild and crazy.

Carl Andre’s “PLAN From Yucatán” (1972).

The exhibition is notable in another way: It was organized by a curatorial team of seven Yale undergraduates from a range of disciplines and two graduate students in art history. They were responsible for all aspects of the project, including choice of the artwork, the exhibition design and interpretive materials as well as the installation of a wall drawing by Sol LeWitt. Over all they have done a good job, though I do have a few criticisms.

As a rule, successful exhibitions require two basic components. They must tell a story, the objects illustrating and deepening our understanding of a core subject or theme. They also need to contain objects of great merit and worth, preferably the best possible examples available.

The students assembling the present show have done a fine job of telling the story of how, roughly since the 1960s, artists have experimented in different ways with the role of lines in drawing. To make the point, they have used about a half-dozen themes - including Grids and Networks, Text, Frame and Boundary, Layer and Gesture - to define and divide the displays.

But what is missing in the selection of artwork is a focus on quality, works of art whose intrinsic aesthetic or historical importance makes them objects of value and notice. There is simply too much artwork here by forgotten or unknown artists that, frankly, I'm not sure we ever need to see again. Independent thought is admirable in curators, but it needs to be tempered with an understanding of a show's broader purpose. Otherwise it's just interior decoration.

The curators were working from the Yale collection, so to some extent were limited in their selection. Nonetheless, they made several inspired choices. Carl Andre's "PLAN From Yucatán" (1972), a wobbly diagonal line of typewritten text in alternating sections of red and black ink, is a skillful Minimalism-inflected, post-Conceptual art riff on the exhibition theme. It depicts a line of sorts, but radically challenged and redefined.

Other interesting items range from a pleasantly whimsical Trisha Brown drawing of crossed feet to an oil-stick abstract drawing with a dense sculptural quality by Richard Serra and an ambiguous interior scene by the American painter Frank Moore. The moderate asymmetry of Mr. Moore's design, along with the presence of smudges, visible corrections and under-drawing, mimics the effect of double vision.

More fanciful uses of lines include Jay Kelly's short vertical lines clustered to create rows of horizontal shapes imitating a barcode and Cy Twombly's calligraphy, which doesn't seem to have much at all to do with lines. Then there is Mr. LeWitt's conceptual wall drawing, assembled by others according to instructions provided by the artist (which were reprinted in the exhibition catalog): "131 lines of random length and direction, each drawn from the end of a previous line. They may cross." Here lines are employed to create a wall drawing that is different each time the instructions are interpreted by those installing the piece.

There is also a lot of artwork that emphasizes spatial geometries, or dutifully repeats basic patterns and motifs, and while this is not the most exciting stuff to spend time with, there is still enough good material here to entertain and occasionally amaze.

I just wish the curators had found works with more color, and a few examples of the kind of glib lyricism that dominated art in the 1980s. After all, the best drawing has a spontaneity that is deceptively effortless.

"What Is a Line? Drawings From the Collection," Yale University Art Gallery, 1111 Chapel Street, New Haven, through July 22. Information: artgallery.yale.edu or (203) 432-0600.