The Dance

Three human figures soar against an idealized representation of cosmological objects: stars, comets, nebulae. The contrast between the void of space and luminous objects is extreme.  Muscular bodies and the etching's visual style owe something to the visionary works of 19th-century poet / printmaker William Blake, especially a sensibility representing human spirit instead of a narrow fidelity to realism, the latter famously described as a product of "mind-forg'd manacles." What appear to be stars in Sternberg's print have a similarity to Blake's mythology of a patriarchal god--sometimes named Urizen, punning on "your reason"--whose presence is a circular disc blocking the source of divine light that everyone possesses. The measuremnts of science and materialism of capital shrank human potential. Sternberg repeatedly was drawn to flying bodies in his work: acrobats, aeronautical guides, and even spirits of musical instruments. Works like The Dance can be juxtaposed to his explicitly political works and their outrage over extracting labor from human bodies--often set in factories or underground mines.

Sternberg, Harry (1904 - 2001)

Cooper, Ken (description)

Helquist, Morgan (photography)

New Deal Gallery, Mount Morris NY

Object #FA 27693

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Etching

9 x 4 3/8 in.