Stier 1937 - 1969

This etching, Stier, by Yo Sugano, is made of dense, tangled, black lines on a pale background. You can feel the scratch of the stylus as it bites into the metal, building the image up bit by bit. I imagine Sugano hunched over the plate, coaxing the bull out of the darkness. What’s he thinking about as he’s working? Is he remembering a specific bull, or is he trying to get at something more primal? You know, that feeling of brute force barely contained. The bull is a classic subject, but Sugano gives it a gnarly, modern twist, kind of like Picasso, or maybe some of the German Expressionists. There’s a real physicality here, a sense of weight and texture. It’s not just a picture of a bull; it’s about the energy and presence of the animal. Each mark feels like a small discovery, a new way of seeing. Artists are always riffing off each other, passing ideas back and forth. Sugano is part of that conversation, adding his own unique voice.