Untitled 1944

Kukryniksy's 'Untitled' illustration emerges with rapid strokes and washes of watercolor, an immediate response, a gut reaction to the events unfolding. Look at the way he’s up there on the desk, casually tossing awards at the officers drowning in them. Did Kukryniksy feel anger, maybe a sense of disbelief, as he watched these events transpire? It makes me think about Goya, about how art can be a powerful tool for political commentary. See the way those tiny crosses pile up, almost obscuring the figures beneath? It’s like the weight of propaganda, the sheer volume of it, threatening to bury the truth. Artists are always in conversation with one another. They respond to the world. It's like, how do you even begin to process the absurdity of it all? You make art. You paint, you draw, you create, and you hope that somehow, it makes a difference.