Irish Kids 1938

Will Barnet made this print, Irish Kids, and what grabs me is the relationship between the black and the white space. It's like a visual game of peek-a-boo. Looking at the girl on the right, her form emerges from a field of black, it’s like Barnet carved away at the surface to reveal her. The shapes are simplified, but there's so much depth, right? The flatness gives way to an illusion. Notice the zigzags to the right of the girl? They make me think of Matisse's cut outs, that same sense of play with positive and negative space. There's this quietness, a sense of introspection, like the kids are lost in their own little worlds, even though they are close together in the composition. It’s like looking at a memory. Isn't that what all art really is, anyway?