Agūero 2004

Rein Dool made this pencil drawing, titled Agūero, sometime in the 20th century. Look at the controlled mark making and the consistent application of tone, it’s all about the process here, a slow, deliberate build-up of marks, the kind of drawing you do to really get to know a place. The texture here is remarkable, especially in the mountains looming over the town, created with tiny hatched lines. It’s like Dool is building the forms from the ground up. See how the pencil lines create a sense of volume, almost like you could reach out and touch the rough surface of the rocks? The subtle tonal variations across the sky create a sense of depth, a real feeling of atmosphere. Then you spot these two soft clouds sitting in the sky, they are almost comical! This reminds me of Agnes Martin’s landscapes. Both artists use repetition and subtle variation to create a sense of space and atmosphere, but while Martin is all about the grid, Dool embraces the messiness and irregularity of nature. For Dool, it’s not about perfection, it’s about capturing the feeling of a place, the spirit of Agūero.