Figure with Three Balls, No. 2 1942

Curator: This striking drawing is Julio Gonzalez's "Figure with Three Balls, No. 2". Editor: It looks precarious! Those heavy shapes balanced so delicately... what is it made of? Curator: The medium is graphite on paper. Gonzalez was fascinated by the industrial materials of his time. Though this is a drawing, it relates directly to his larger engagement with iron sculpture. Editor: So, even in his drawings, he's thinking about the weight and construction of things. How would this have been displayed, and what role would it have played in his practice? Curator: Gonzalez was deeply embedded in the Parisian avant-garde. He exhibited regularly, and likely saw this drawing as a study, a way to explore form before committing to the more laborious process of ironwork. Editor: It's fascinating to see the artist thinking through the possibilities of form and material right here on the page. Curator: Indeed. We see both the artistic process and Gonzalez's fascination with industrial materials distilled.