Lament/Nomads 1940

Abidin Dino made this drawing, Lament/Nomads, with what looks like ink on paper. The starkness gets me. How the raw energy of the mark-making just throws the figure right at you. It’s like a scream captured in a few strokes. There’s a real tension between the delicate paper surface and the bold black lines. You can almost feel the artist’s hand moving, the quick, decisive gestures. I keep coming back to the face, to the mouth open in anguish. It’s so raw and vulnerable, but also powerful. It feels both ancient and totally present. It reminds me of some of Kollwitz’s starker prints, that same willingness to confront pain head-on. But Dino brings his own kind of urgency to it. Art isn’t about answers, it’s about feeling, about grappling with the mess of being alive.