Matthew Johnson's charcoal drawings and watercolors at Fulcrum are unassuming, unpretentious and traditional in style and execution. There's nothing to distinguish them other than 1) the unusual subject matter and 2) the skill of the drawings. Yet, I was drawn to them even from outside the gallery on the sidewalk looking in. These are impactful images.

About the subject matter: They are portraits of cell phone towers. Such towers have become ubiquitous, but I suspect that most people, like me, never pay attention to them. Who studies their form, the shadows they cast or the way they relate visually to surrounding buildings, trees and sky? Apparently Johnson does.

Read my full review here.

Impersonal Portraits

Through Sept. 11, noon to 6 p.m., Thursday-Saturday
Fulcrum Gallery, 1308 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Tacoma
253.250.0520