Geabstraheerde studie van een zwarte man before 1935

Wico Jager made this abstract study of a black man using printmaking. Look at the bold strokes of black ink against the stark white background. I imagine Jager pressing the linoleum block onto paper, each mark a deliberate act of carving and transferring. There’s a sense of rhythm, a push and pull between presence and absence that makes this image so arresting. I wonder about the artist's intentions here? The way he abstracts the figure, reducing it to essential forms, reminds me of other artists who are in search of primal expression. But it is the way the figure almost emerges from the background that I find most affecting. The vertical lines behind the man lend him a certain presence. It’s like the conversation between different eras of mark-making, inspiring artists like Wico Jager and myself to embrace the beauty of imperfection, the power of suggestion.