American Art Collaborative

Leuk 5 evokes several different meanings, all of which may have had significance for László Moholy-Nagy. “Leuk” can mean light or brightness, which relates to his lifelong exploration of light and color in art and reflects the glowing hues in the image. It can also mean white, as in leukemia (white blood), which killed the artist in November 1946. The red and white ovals suggest blood cells, and the small black shape evokes an abnormal or cancerous cell. If so, then Moholy-Nagy might have magnified these microscopic particles to show how just a few tiny molecules can have a devastating effect on our bodies.