Untitled 1972

James Rosati made this untitled graphite drawing in 1972, and when I look at it, I think about how artists find form. Here, it looks like the artist is casting about for some kind of structure. The composition appears to be made of tumbling 3D rectangles. Did he throw them up in the air, then draw them where they landed? I bet he had to really focus and squint, working with the side of the pencil to get the shading just right. I can imagine him moving the forms around – a bit this way, then a bit that way – trying to work out how they related to one another in space. The more I look, the more the forms appear to almost hover, held together by the artist’s gaze. In some ways, it reminds me of the work of other sculptors, like David Smith. Ultimately, this drawing feels like it's about discovery and how different artists inspire and encourage one another.