Liggende uitgemergelde man 1894 - 1935

Mathieu Lauweriks made this woodcut print, Liggende uitgemergelde man, with black ink, in what looks like one, maybe two goes. I am immediately drawn to the physical demands of woodcut printing and feel for Lauweriks, imagining him digging into that surface, rerouting and shifting, trying to figure out what was there, and what could be. The man’s ribs are showing. The lines are harsh. The surface is dark, and the figure lies surrounded by what looks like a stark landscape, the horizontal lines contrasting with the vertical lines, to enhance the figure’s stillness. There’s a certain relationship with the flatness of the surface, an interest in the materiality of the printmaking, and the process of mark-making, that feels very much of its time. These artists are all in conversation with each other, even when they don't know it, and it makes me realize that the most radical thing you can do is get back to basics and start from scratch.