Shoemaker 1937

Will Barnet made "Shoemaker" with lithographic crayon and tusche. The way he's built up these marks, its like watching a dance – bold strokes and delicate touches intertwining. There's a real sense of his hand moving across the surface. Look closely at the shoemaker's hands. See how the lithographic crayon gives them texture, almost like you can feel the weight of the tool he's holding? The density of the tusche brings out the shadows, but there is a softness that almost looks like velvet. Barnet's really thinking about the physical presence of things. The limited color palette almost feels like looking back in time. Barnet's work reminds me a little of Milton Avery, both artists sharing a love for distilling form to its essence. But where Avery uses swathes of color, Barnet grounds his forms with those rich blacks. Art's always a conversation, right?