Ex-muralist and illustrator Marie-Anne Poniatowska has produced this group of incredibly facile drawings. Large in size and intricate in rendering, the rock shapes and skeletons are further enhanced by their sensitive placement on the page. These are not hastily dashed off studies or sketches, but rather painstakingly done independent statements.
Working in black and white requires a particular kind of discipline from the artist, for the value range is bounded by absolutes. There is nothing whiter than total white (presumably the paper) nor blacker than total black. And these limits dictate the intervals between middle values. Miss Poniatowska responds well to this discipline, approaching but never quite reaching the absolute limits of the value range, always holding something in reserve.
If any criticism were to be levied, it would have to be superficiality. The artist’s interest in her subjects seems to be their visual and tactile properties. It would be interesting to see her work in a few years, as her art matures.
—Virginia Allen
