Tlalmanalco II 1975

Leonard Lehrer made 'Tlalmanalco II' in 1975, I imagine with a fine nib and dark ink. The composition is teeming with images, figures and forms layered on top of one another. I look at this dense drawing and I can't help but wonder about Lehrer's process and what it might have felt like to make this work. To patiently build up the image with all those tiny lines, one after another, hatching and cross-hatching. Lehrer must have been so committed to the process of discovery. I'm drawn to the way the darker marks create areas of shadow and depth, while the lighter areas feel more open and airy. There are clusters of gestures, of marks and of intention, that remind me of Francisco Goya's etchings. And I like to think of artists being in conversation with one another across time, building on each other’s ideas and inspiring new ways of seeing the world.