The Press 1951

Bertram Goodman made this print called 'The Press', but we don't know exactly when. It’s all about the push and pull of black and white, a real dance between light and shadow. Look at how he's used these little hatching lines to build up the dark areas, creating all these textures. It's almost like he's sculpting with ink! The paper is so white it almost feels like it’s glowing. I love the way he hasn’t tried to hide the process, you can really see the hand of the artist. The area where the paper feeds into the press is so bright, I can almost feel the cool smooth surface. It makes me think of Piranesi, with his dramatic architectural prints. Both artists are obsessed with these huge looming machines, and maybe they’re saying something about how industry shapes our lives. It’s about embracing the messy, complex world we live in, rather than trying to make everything neat and tidy.