Nanigos 1927

Adja Yunkers made this print called Nanigos in 1927. It's a dance of shapes really, like jazz made visible, with this limited palette of blacks, grays, and creams doing all the work. You can see how the artist used flat planes of color to construct a scene, kind of like cutting out shapes from paper. Look at how the figures emerge from the background, yet everything feels flattened and compressed. It's not trying to trick you into thinking it's real. Take for instance, the stylized flowers and the rooster interjecting in the middle ground. Everything is playing with everything else, pushing forward and pulling back simultaneously. Yunkers seems like he's having a conversation with the Cubists, but he's throwing in his own Latvian twist, making it something new. Like all good art, it leaves you with more questions than answers, which is exactly the point.