Pa. German Flatiron Holder c. 1938

Salvatore Borrazzo made this drawing of a Pa. German Flatiron Holder with graphite on paper. It's an object drawn with a keen eye, the type of drawing that gets right into the thingness of a thing. Look at the graphite marks, they aren't trying to trick you, you can see the hand moving, describing the roundness, the bumps and hollows of the original object. The texture is so palpable, you can almost feel the roughness of the cast iron. This reminds me of the work of Vija Celmins, or maybe Giorgio Morandi – a quiet observation of everyday objects elevated through careful rendering. There's a really beautiful sense of weight and form, particularly around the handle, the way it droops slightly, suggesting the malleability of the metal. And the way that Borrazzo includes multiple views – like a technical drawing, yet also like Cubism. This speaks to the nature of art itself as a conversation across time, where artists build on each other's ideas. Nothing is ever truly fixed.