Wrought Iron Toaster 1935 - 1942

Benjamin Resnick made this ‘Wrought Iron Toaster’ using graphite and colored pencil. See how he coaxes color out of such simple means? It’s like he’s saying, ‘look, there’s a whole world in grey, if you just pay attention.’ I love the confident line that defines the main rod of the toaster, so sure and unwavering. It really holds the piece together. And those little spikes at the bottom? They are so delicate, each one slightly different from the last, like individual blades of grass. Resnick’s choice to depict an everyday object elevates the mundane, urging us to reconsider the beauty in the banal. It reminds me of Vija Celmins’ obsessive renderings of ordinary objects, turning the act of looking into a meditative process. Art doesn’t always need to shout; sometimes, the quietest voices resonate the loudest.