Man met opgetrokken schouders before 2009

This print, "Man met opgetrokken schouders," was created by Rein Dool using lithography, a process rooted in the industrial age. In lithography, the artist draws an image onto a flat stone or metal plate with a greasy crayon, then treats the surface so that ink adheres only to the drawn areas. It’s a technique that allows for a great deal of texture and tonality, as you can see here in the shadowy depths of Dool's composition. The process is critical to understanding this work. Lithography lends itself to reproduction, to dissemination. It is no accident that it became so popular alongside the rise of mass media. This print harnesses that capacity, but to what end? The slumped posture of the man, his shoulders raised as if burdened, speaks to a sense of alienation, perhaps even exploitation. Dool's choice of a printmaking technique that inherently involves duplication seems particularly poignant. It invites us to reflect on the relationship between labor, representation, and the individual within a larger social fabric. It reminds us that art is not just about what we see, but also how it is made and how it circulates in the world.