Untitled 1985

Gerardo Pita made this untitled drawing with graphite on paper. I love the way he's using tone here to give form to form. It's so subtle, really quiet, and it makes the whole thing feel delicate, almost fragile, even though it's a solid stone head. There's a real awareness of the surface – the way the graphite catches the texture of the paper, it's like the drawing is breathing. You can almost feel the coolness of the plaster or marble, and the light is just gorgeous, it's like it's alive and moving across the surface of the head. Look at the details in the hair – those tiny, precise marks that build up the volume and shape. That's where the real magic is for me; the care with which the artist has rendered this inanimate object brings it to life. I think of Vija Celmins, who did similar graphite drawings of rocks and shells. It's that same obsession with detail, that same desire to capture the essence of something through sheer, patient observation.