De Vrije Kunstenaar; religieus en politiek onafhankelijk orgaan voor de Nederlandsche Kunstenaars Possibly 1946

This newsprint, 'De Vrije Kunstenaar; religieus en politiek onafhankelijk orgaan voor de Nederlandsche Kunstenaars', was made in January 1946. Look at the way Dico uses layout and typography to create a visual hierarchy, almost like a collage or assemblage. You can see how much information is on the page, but the balance between text blocks and white space helps you navigate. It feels very considered, showing artmaking as a deliberate process of selection and arrangement. The texture of the paper itself adds another layer. It's not pristine, but rough and aged, giving the whole piece a tactile quality. I imagine the inky smell, the slight smudging of the letters – these material details ground the conceptual message in a physical reality. Note how the masthead looms large above the columns of text. This reminds me of the work of someone like Hannah Höch, who was working around the same time and playing with similar ideas about text and image in the service of political expression. All art is, after all, just a part of an ongoing conversation.