Food c. 1929

Henry Glintenkamp made this print called 'Food' with wood engraving, and it's all about the push and pull between what we see and what we think we know. I love the way Glintenkamp plays with texture. Look closely at the fire and the figures around it; there's this rough, almost primal energy there, juxtaposed against the smooth, regimented lines of the canned goods towering above. It is amazing, the contrast he achieves using just black and white! The shapes are so geometric. Are we looking at a store? Or is this an apocalyptic scene? It reminds me a bit of some of the German Expressionist woodcuts, like those by Kirchner, where the city becomes a jagged, fractured space. Art is all about conversations, right? Glintenkamp is in dialogue with those artists, but he's also saying something unique about American consumerism, and maybe even survival. It's a powerful image, and one that keeps asking questions, refusing to give easy answers.