She-Dragon 1964

Konrad Klapheck made "She-Dragon" out of oil paint on canvas and look how smoothly he's applied it! It's like a machine finish, which is apt, because here's a sewing machine made monumental. The surface has almost no texture, but there are gorgeous gradations of tone. The light catches the curves, accentuating their swelling, corporeal forms. The dragon breathes cast shadows on a dark pink ground. That ground itself has a different character of surface than the sewing machine. It has a loose, irregular texture. Look how the thread runs from the top spool all the way to the bottom. It's a tiny line of bright orange, a pure mark of color against the tonal rendering of the machine itself. It's like a tiny lifeline connecting us to the process of making. Klapheck's work reminds me of Picabia's machine drawings; he painted a world that was both erotic and mechanical.