Djokja c. 1930

This is a print titled "Djokja" by Johannes Frederik Engelbert ten Klooster. Ten Klooster is working with just black and white. I love to see what an artist decides to keep and what to leave out. I’m drawn to the way the artist has described the dresses on the figures; their dark, solid forms sharply contrasted with white folds, which look like light falling. This print reminds me of the German Expressionists. Take for instance the way the silhouetted trees look, they’re almost violent, and these are contrasted with the soft undulations of the landscape. The artist is letting ambiguity and multiple interpretations bloom, rather than pinning down the scene with hard edges. It’s like one big conversation that he’s having with the block.