La Table de l'architecte 1977

Julio Pomar's "La Table de l'architecte" is a world of muted tones and careful composition. It looks like the ghost of a drawing laid over a woven fabric, maybe linen, set against a concrete wall. I bet Pomar was thinking hard about space and form when he made it. There's a figure in the top part, bent over almost double, but it's just lines, barely there. Then there's this circle, a moon, maybe, sitting smack in the middle of the fabric. And the ruler? That’s a great touch, pushing everything into this architectural zone. It's like he's playing with all these layers, seeing how they talk to each other. It reminds me a little of Jasper Johns, how he used everyday stuff and made it sing. Pomar makes you think about what it means to build a picture, what it means to build anything, really. That’s what painters do, we build worlds with every brushstroke.