Untitled 1945

This stark image by the Kukryniksy collective, made around 1945, captures two figures in a world of stark blacks and whites. The artist's hand is evident in the nervous, cross-hatched energy of the figures’ clothing. I imagine the artists, huddled together, quickly sketching these figures in court. Maybe they were thinking about how to capture the banality of evil, the way these men appear so ordinary, so… defeated? The caricatured features, especially on the figure to the left, with his elongated neck and weary eyes, are emphasized with ink and a brush. Maybe the inky blacks are meant to evoke the moral darkness that surrounds the figures, and how it seems to seep into everything. The act of drawing—so immediate, so gestural—makes this historical moment feel surprisingly present, as the artist's rendering creates a connection across time. Like all artists, they engage in an ongoing conversation about how to depict the human condition.