Anatomische studie van de nek-, buik- en bovenbeenspieren van een man 1906 - 1945

This anatomical study by Reijer Stolk is a woodcut, and therefore exists as a process. Carving into wood is a reductive procedure, leaving the image as a relief of what wasn't cut away. Stolk's image is about the body's interior, but it also evokes the exterior. The muscles and tendons are meticulously delineated, each line a testament to the artist's skill and understanding of anatomy. But for me, what really grabs attention is the negative space. The figure is cut off rather abruptly at the neck and thighs, and one arm disappears entirely. This creates a strange tension, as if the body is both present and absent, a fragment of something larger. Looking at the surface, you can almost feel the grain of the wood, the resistance it must have offered to the artist's tools. I am reminded of other artists that obsessively map the human body like Nancy Spero, but I am left with more questions than answers, and that's exactly how art should be.