Untitled 1953

Here we have an untitled relief by Jean Arp. During and after the First World War, Arp, like many artists, grappled with a world shattered by industrialization and violence. Arp sought to challenge traditional artistic conventions, and his work is often associated with Dadaism, an anti-establishment movement, embracing chance and irrationality as a form of protest against the logic that led to war. In this relief, Arp uses simplified, organic forms. These shapes seem to float against the work’s dark background. Arp uses the term “concrete art,” to describe his practice. With it, he sought to create forms that existed independently of representation. But I think there is something inherently human in Arp’s work. Even with his attempts to break from tradition, there are echoes of the body, gender, and identity, particularly in the smooth, curved shapes that can be read as both sensual and symbolic. Arp invites us to question the old, while reflecting on the enduring human experience.