Chor Bazaar 1994

Bruce Peck created this intaglio print, Chor Bazaar, by hand, using a sharp needle to etch lines into a metal plate. The image comes into being through trial and error, and through intuition. You can imagine Peck, bent over the plate, squinting at the details of a busy market street, and the textures of buildings—maybe he was thinking about the passage of time and decay. He creates a palpable sense of bustling movement. The etched lines give a stark tonal range, and suggest shadows in a confined space. I'm thinking particularly about the way the lines form the figures, so light and fast, and the figure carrying a load on his head is so lightly described and yet so descriptive. It makes me think of other artists who depict urban life—like Jacob Lawrence. All artists are in an ongoing conversation, exchanging ideas across time, inspiring one another’s creativity. Painting is a form of embodied expression which embraces ambiguity and uncertainty, allowing multiple interpretations.