Desk Bell from Fire Department c. 1939

Al Curry made this "Desk Bell from Fire Department," with watercolor, and graphite. It's a tightly rendered drawing, every line precise, a demonstration of skill. The process looks controlled, but I see the kind of care in the graphite that you see in someone's face when they're telling you a secret. The surface is smooth, there's almost no texture, and that makes me think about the artist's hand. It's like they are trying to disappear, to give us a pure image of this object, this bell. Look at the top, at that vine with the leaves, almost like it's growing out of the box. Does the regularity of this mark making disguise an underlying feeling? This reminds me of the work of Charles Sheeler, the way he captured the precision and clarity of industrial forms, but here, Curry brings a folk sensibility, a handmade touch. Art is this funny dance, you're never really alone, someone always came before you. It's about taking these ideas and seeing how they transform with a different voice and a different hand.