Three Door Latches c. 1938

Al Curry made these "Three Door Latches" with graphite and watercolor, and right away I’m thinking, this guy gets how the world really looks, its textures and patinas. He’s not trying to pretty things up. Look at the way the graphite catches the light, giving these latches a real sense of weight and substance. And the watercolor! So controlled, so precise, but still with this underlying feeling of looseness, of things shifting and changing. It’s almost like Curry is showing us the latches as ideas, as things in progress, not just as finished objects. That long latch on the right, it reminds me of some of Philip Guston’s later work – that same feeling of awkwardness, of things being just slightly off. But then you notice the way Curry renders the textures, the way the metal seems worn and aged, and you realize there’s something else going on here too. It’s like he’s saying, “Yeah, the world is messy and imperfect, but there’s still beauty to be found in it, if you know where to look.”