Machines at the Ganz factory, from Folder 57 1947

Ilka Gedo’s “Machines at the Ganz factory” seems to have been made with some kind of pastel or crayon; a medium that invites directness. The whole image is a dense weave of short, hatched strokes. It's like she’s feeling her way through the space. The palette is warm - earth tones, browns, reds – which gives an overall feeling of enclosure, like being inside something. It’s interesting how she suggests light. The white pastel highlights around the objects, like that canister on the right, pull them forward, but also flatten them. What strikes me is how Gedo doesn’t smooth things over. The roughness becomes the point. It makes me think of Guston, the way he embraced the clumsy and awkward. There is a raw honesty, a commitment to the unpolished mark. Art as an ongoing conversation.