Anacharsis 1973

Editor: Alright, next up we have Jacob Kainen's "Anacharsis," created in 1973. It's an ink print, all in black and white, with these bold, geometric shapes... I'm struck by the tension between the defined shapes and the more gestural, almost drippy areas. It feels very dynamic. What do you see in this piece? Curator: Ah, Kainen! I feel a real kinship with his journey. The monochrome allows you to lose yourself. Anacharsis…a Scythian philosopher, who was considered to be the ultimate barbarian in the eyes of the Greeks, right? Editor: Exactly! So why name this work after him? Curator: Kainen, for me, taps into something primal. Notice the upper shape: almost like an eroded sign, hinting at a ruined temple. A kind of primal scene, the archetypal hero or fool’s return from a civilizing journey… to what end? To critique civilization *itself*? That would track if we follow the Anacharsis naming convention… What does that jagged shape below evoke? Editor: I see... it does seem evocative. That lower circle, it feels like an eye... like some ancient symbol staring back at the viewer. I love the idea of the philosopher criticizing society itself, coming full circle... if we dare make such a simple equation of its content. Curator: A seeing eye! Now we’re on to something. I imagine Kainen smiled to have such a clever interpreter in time! Because to see these “primitivist” or barbarous energies clearly, we also confront them in ourselves. That little “keyhole” inside could then suggest a moment of access! You begin to touch what Kainen might have touched… if only for a moment. Editor: Wow, I hadn't considered it that way. So, it's not just about abstract forms but also about a sort of…internal reflection, an opening. Curator: Precisely. The artwork allows us to question and connect on multiple layers, and become as critically uninhibited, so to speak, as the ancients we interpret it through! Editor: That's a powerful reading. Thanks!