Handstand 1937 - 1969

Curator: This is "Handstand" by Yo Sugano, created sometime between 1937 and 1969. It's an ink drawing on paper. What's your immediate impression? Editor: The figure feels trapped, somehow—vulnerable and upside down, teetering on instability. It is a dark drawing with simple tools used. Curator: Indeed, it’s fascinating how Sugano achieved such a feeling with simple materials and line work. You can almost feel the artist manipulating the paper and ink, letting the medium itself contribute to the expressive quality of the piece. How do you interpret this in the socio-political context of the time it was produced? Editor: Considering the artwork's timeframe overlaps with periods of significant upheaval, that visual instability could echo societal tensions or individual anxieties prevalent during those decades. The abstracted form might represent a struggle to find balance amidst broader conflicts related to race, identity, gender, and access to the means of living, right? Curator: Precisely, there's an interesting interplay between what appears straightforward – a figure in a handstand – and its inherent complexity. The labor and materials needed for making any artwork have been used to generate social narratives, it can bring out tensions of different communities. Editor: Thinking about identity and social struggles, could this pose represent an attempt to resist established structures? To turn the world on its head, so to speak? Curator: It might, it opens questions about traditional gender norms and power dynamics, it might invite an intersectional exploration. Editor: Thanks, that made me look at this handstand from a different angle, thinking about resistance, resilience, and all the struggles represented by inverting expectations. Curator: Agreed, this drawing can inspire discussions about what we stand for, especially while thinking of production process, medium used, artist, and audience.