Nederlandse familie 1943 - 1944

Werner Neufang made this family photo album page with red ink. It is a collection of placeholders, ghostly traces of the Dutch family to come. The names are carefully printed in a clear hand. But look closely and you can see Neufang doesn’t quite follow the horizontal lines. Letters lift and fall, each name a personal topography. I love how the ink color creates an intimate and familial tone. The empty photo spaces have a poignancy all their own, expectant and full of possibility. Think about the way that Sol LeWitt used seriality and the grid, but here with a tender approach. Both show how the constraints of a system can lead to unexpected expressive outcomes. Ultimately, art is about seeing the world in new ways. And this small album page is a reminder that art can be found in the most unexpected places.