Untitled Jan 22, 71 [study for "tattoo" book] 1971

This study for a tattoo book, dated January 1971, by James McCracken Jr. is like a page torn from an ancient bestiary. Its stark black ink against the paper creates a world of elemental forms. I imagine McCracken, pen in hand, coaxing these figures into existence. Each one born from a single, assured stroke. Look at the centaurs midway down! They feel plucked from mythology, yet grounded in the here and now by McCracken’s hand. There’s a deliberate simplicity in his style. He pares each figure down to its essence. It reminds me of cave paintings, or maybe the work of Paul Klee, where line becomes everything. It’s this sense of immediacy, the direct connection between the artist’s hand and the emerging image, that makes the work so compelling. He reduces everything down, echoing art history. So what is he saying? What is art?