Untitled (The Cube) 1945

Hans Bellmer made this unsettling print sometime in the mid-twentieth century, and the stark contrast between the black background and the pale figure gives it a real edge. The way Bellmer uses these tiny dots to create tone is really interesting. It makes the figure look both solid and kind of unreal, like a mannequin or a dream. Look at how the figure is folded up, crammed into this cube shape. It's uncomfortable, right? There’s something violent about it, but also delicate in the way he renders the skin. This kind of distortion and fragmentation is a big part of what Bellmer was doing, he was interested in the body as a site of both desire and control. Think about someone like Louise Bourgeois, who also used the body to explore complex emotions and experiences. Art is always talking to other art, right? Bellmer’s work reminds us that things aren’t always what they seem, and that there's power in ambiguity.