Hennepin Avenue below Sixth Street 1917

Carl Edward Johnson created this print of Hennepin Avenue below Sixth Street, and it's really something how he captured a moment in time using a super process-oriented approach. Looking at the hatching and the cross-hatching, you can feel the artist working it out, one line at a time. There’s a real tenderness to the way he renders the buildings, letting them emerge from the page through careful accumulation. It's almost like he's building the city right there with his pen. Check out the dark shadows against the light in the right-hand building – a few simple marks and suddenly you’re feeling the weight and volume. He’s working with a limited palette and a limited range of marks, but he coaxes so much depth and atmosphere out of them. Artists like Giorgio Morandi come to mind, someone who also found endless inspiration in the everyday, using simple means to explore fundamental questions of seeing and representing. Art invites us to pause and observe, to embrace the beauty of imperfection and the endless possibilities of interpretation.