Tongs c. 1941

This is Pearl Davis’s drawing of 'Tongs', and it's kind of a marvel. Davis seems to be saying that art can be found in the everyday, if you only bother to look. The drawing has a lightness to it, almost floating on the page, as if the tongs are suspended in air. There’s an emphasis on line – the clean, thin lines that define the shape of the instrument. I’m drawn to the handles, how they curve and loop, like little question marks. It’s as if the artist is asking us: What is this? What does it mean? The shading creates a sense of depth. But ultimately this feels like a celebration of form. It reminds me a little of the drawings of precision tools by the German artist, Hilla Becher. But where those are hard and industrial, this is tender and idiosyncratic. Davis seems to revel in the sheer pleasure of looking.