The Great Tower: Pig-Iron 1916

Joseph Pennell made this print, The Great Tower: Pig-Iron, by layering strokes of black ink to depict the interior of a steel mill, it feels like a world made of lines. Pennell must have felt a deep need to capture the raw energy of industry, spending time on-site, sketching, and absorbing the atmosphere. See how the thick, dark strokes capture the weight of the machinery, the clanging sounds, and the gritty air. The marks build up to describe the workers in the space and trucks moving materials – an epic vision of labor. It almost reminds me of Piranesi and his prints of fantastical, labyrinthine prisons. Pennell seems to suggest a kind of awe and also maybe a tiny bit of horror in the face of this industrialized landscape. Artists like Pennell, and those before and after him, continue to push the boundaries of how we see and understand our world. They leave us with new ways of thinking about mark-making and the stories it can tell.