Spirit of New York 1925

Curator: Looking at this compelling print, “Spirit of New York,” created by Fugi Nakamizo in 1925, I immediately sense a tension, almost an anxiety. It's quite raw, wouldn't you agree? Editor: Raw indeed! And striking, especially given the medium. One immediately focuses on the figures: are they resisting or succumbing? The texture gives the entire image such depth—you can see the physical labor behind its creation, the density of lines Nakamizo used... What inks were accessible at that time? And was the paper itself locally sourced? Curator: It's fascinating how Nakamizo layered diverse symbols here. Notice the commanding, almost grotesque figure looming over the cityscape— a guardian or a demon? And what of the dancers? The one brandishing what appears to be a small axe feels particularly loaded with possible interpretations. It echoes a lot of anxieties that artists shared regarding a changing world. Editor: Yes, these recurring iconographies echo deeper into the symbolism that emerges over and over in narrative art, the idea of transformation, particularly relating to the axis of labor versus capital... The body almost seems a contested site; you've got active figures laboring alongside more passive figures holding what I think is debris from buildings. It could serve as a powerful allegory about social classes and structures during New York's growth, post WWI. It really makes you question: Who built this city? At what cost? And at who's expense? Curator: Absolutely. And speaking of cost, that brings us back to the materiality of it. I wonder what prompted Nakamizo's specific choice to work with drawing and printmaking during that era of rapid industrial expansion and how print might serve the eroticism apparent in his other works? Was it simply more accessible, or did the medium itself carry a particular symbolic weight? Was it disseminated widely or a rarity from its beginnings? It leaves me wondering how those figures' gestures played to their intended audience back then... What did viewers make of all these active symbolisms in 1925? Editor: It’s a powerful statement either way; knowing its context gives a new appreciation for not just Nakamizo's choices as a maker but the symbolic struggles so central to urban life back then— and now. It almost challenges us to reflect: which figures do we emulate today? Which figures get trampled under our feet? Curator: It seems with all of Nakamizo's layered symbolism he offers not answers but difficult questions to anyone looking back at "The Spirit of New York." Editor: Indeed, quite the evocative use of layered techniques with profound meaning. It’s truly hard to shake off the mood that emerges from such deft deployment of symbol-laden choices in this image!