Civilisation 1937: La Cultura del Odio 1939

'Civilisation 1937: La Cultura del Odio' was made by Pierre Daura, probably with an etching tool, to create a black and white print. The title translates as ‘The Culture of Hate’ and you can see that Daura is interested in process, in the mark, and in what can be made to emerge from darkness. It's a dense image, scratched into being, the figures fighting for space amidst the lines. The faces are raw, etched with emotion, a mother perhaps and her son, a figure beneath them. The hatching creates volume and shade, but it also evokes a feeling of agitation, a world where everything is on edge. Look how the lines coalesce to create that anguished face at the top left; it’s raw and immediate. Daura made this during the Spanish Civil War, and it is a powerful anti-fascist statement. This image reminds me of some of Kollwitz’s prints from the interwar period in Germany; both artists were trying to grasp the violence and terror unfolding around them. Art is always a response, an ongoing conversation.