Kit Kat Ball Poster c. 1914 - 1918

Curator: This woodcut, made by Walt Kuhn sometime between 1914 and 1918, is entitled "Kit Kat Ball Poster". Editor: Wow, it's striking! Like peering into a shadowy, energetic dream. The stark black and white, the simplified forms… there's a raw energy here, like a primal dance. Curator: It's fascinating to consider this print in relation to the broader societal conversations occurring in the early 20th century. Kuhn was part of a wave of artists grappling with primitivism and exoticism. How do we read that today? Editor: Right? Those figures in the top register, with their elaborate headdresses, look almost like ritualistic performers. I wonder what kind of “Kit Kat Ball” this poster advertised? Seems a bit… wild! Almost Dionysian, don't you think? Makes you wonder what Kuhn was after. A true "anything goes" kind of night, or more along the lines of a high-society bash? Curator: Precisely! The juxtaposition is key. Below we see these unclothed, active figures. Are they the entertainers, or members of the ball in the process of "letting loose," perhaps? Kuhn's use of black and white creates an interplay of shadows, forms emerging from darkness... a sense of veiled mystery around ideas of transgression and celebration. He may be hinting at the performative nature of identity itself, within these contexts. Editor: Mmm, and there’s definitely a bit of that, how do you say... voyeuristic pleasure, watching from the sidelines of some forbidden pleasure? Plus, the crudeness of the print adds to that feeling, I reckon. Like stumbling across a hidden doorway that you might get hurt from stumbling across... or be lucky from it, too. Curator: I see that too. Kuhn is capturing an edgy feeling, with this somewhat blurry and almost disturbing representation of dance, music, and performance in an urban setting. Editor: Well, I'm thoroughly intrigued now. Makes me want to find my own Kit Kat Ball… though maybe one that’s just a *little* less ambiguous than whatever Kuhn had in mind, I think! Curator: Exactly. Kuhn forces us to engage critically, acknowledging the layered, sometimes uncomfortable histories interwoven within celebratory imagery. A small but powerful commentary on the spectacle and allure of entertainment, from a specific vantage point in time.