With Heart of Stethoscope 1962

Reva Urban made this compelling charcoal drawing, titled *With Heart of Stethoscope*, with dynamic marks and shifting tonal contrasts. The drawing seems to come into being in the act of making, as if it were a dialogue between the hand and the eye, a back-and-forth between intention and accident. I can imagine Reva Urban thinking, as she draws, about ways in which the body, medicine, and feeling intersect. The drawing is made up of many marks, some bold and assertive, others tentative and searching. I wonder if the artist worked on the drawing over a long period of time, adding and subtracting, building up layers of charcoal to create a rich and complex surface? The shapes overlap and intersect, creating a sense of depth and movement, like a heart beating or a stethoscope pressed against a chest. I think about other artists who have explored the relationship between the body and technology, such as Hannah Höch or Nancy Spero, and how Reva Urban’s drawing participates in that ongoing conversation.