Gedeformeerd vrouwenlichaam met drie cirkels 1900 - 1933

This is a monochromatic print of a deformed female figure, made by Jacob Bendien. You can see the horizontal striations of the printing technique layered across the image. It must have been an adventure for Bendien to produce this strange body that seems to be emerging from the darkness. The light, or the absence of it, sculpts the shape and suggests a kind of interiority and emotion, doesn’t it? And what about the three circles? They hover, adding to the overall mystery. The cross-legged stance of the figure reminds me of some of Picasso's more experimental and unsettling forms, only with a somber mood. What connects them is a shared impulse to push against conventional representations of the body, to delve into the subconscious, and to challenge the viewer's expectations. Artists do this all the time, they are magpies, picking up ideas from one another, shifting, and transforming across time.