Divers 1939

Hananiah Harari made this print called 'Divers', but the date is unknown. Look at these shapes! There's an immediacy to the way Harari built up the image with flat planes of color, and the overall composition has a graphic feel, like a poster. The bodies of the divers are constructed from an unexpected palette of greens, pinks, and blacks, each area is sharply delineated to create hard edges. Harari’s woodcut technique really emphasizes these bold blocks of color, and you can almost feel the pressure of the block on the paper. The dark outlines that define the figures aren’t afraid to be thick, and a bit wonky. It all feels very deliberate, but loose. I'm reminded of Stuart Davis's jazzy compositions, which used a similar language of flattened forms, and an upbeat color palette. Ultimately, I'm intrigued by how this piece manages to convey a sense of motion, freeze-framed, in what is essentially a static medium.