"Some years ago I found in my woodshed a different log. It had sinuous incisions that didn't look casual. It was hanging around in my studio for some time until one day I rolled it over a clay slab, leaving a beautiful imprint on it..."
Thus begins the story of the TRAÇAS project. The marks that Patricia Lazcano found on that trunk were grooves created by the larvae of certain xylophagous beetles. These larvae devour the surface of the wood under the bark of the tree, from the moment they hatch and leave the egg, until they reach their final size and come out through a hole drilled in the bark.
That chance finding turned into a quest. A search that not only consists of collecting but also of observing, revealing and finding the best way to show the beauty and peculiarity of these tracks. Marks that are different depending on the type of beetle and tree. The artist's work then becomes extensive and overwhelming as she discovers an infinite number of patterns, chaotic grids, explosions, landscapes...
The initial process of the pieces that make up this project begins by treating the trunk that will become the mold and object of development. The first trunks had no bark and were deteriorated by the weather. The artist discovers that by anticipating this deterioration, she can obtain more defined grooves to work with. By searching for signs of the presence of the aforementioned xylophages in the bark and then clearing them herself, she finds clear, recent traces. As with the imprinting, the stripping of the bark becomes one of the most exciting moments of the process. These are moments in which a unique trace is revealed.
Once these logs have been treated, Patricia Lazcano uses them as rollers that imprint their image on ceramic pieces. The use of ceramics, treated at low temperature, as a support has a vital meaning in this context, since it is a natural material that, like wood, becomes a record of life.
The ceramics that the artist presents in TRAÇAS are a biological testimony, a record of what was, which we only perceive through the volume. A palpable volume, white and pure. The volume of absence.
]]>Let’s dig a bit more about each one of the works that for this impressive and iconic series by this acclaimed British artist.
The only woman to hold the position of Empress in her own right in China has been Wu Zetian. She was raised in a prosperous family and quickly gained attention for her brilliance and talent. At the age of 14 joined the harem of Emperor Taizong. Immediately following Taizong's death, his son Gaozong assumed the throne and kept Wu in his harem. Given that the concubines were never transferred from father to son, this was somewhat unusual at the period.
Wu replaced Empress Tang after getting rid of her, handling the majority of political choices during her husband's final years. She assumed the roles of widow and regent empress immediately following Gaozong's passing, but she ultimately staged a coup and established her own dynasty.
Empress Wu established herself as an effective ruler for more than ten years, contributing to the growth of the empire's military, education, and infrastructure. In the meantime, her opponents were unwilling to admit that she, a woman, was the one making decisions on imperial China's plans and started spreading rumors about killings, purges, and orgies that gave her a bad reputation.
The truth is that Wu Zetian may be viewed from both perspectives of history, either as a brilliant and capable leader for her country or as a cunning, cruel lady with an evident lust for power.
A solitary pair of butterfly wings in the center of a hexagonal composition that is rife with symbolism is surrounded by a concentric circle of other pairs of wings. This arrangement develops into a symmetrical, dynamic hexagonal shape with three pairs of wings arranged within each point. This composition's reliance on the number six to define it recalls how it is frequently used in Chinese culture to represent goodwill, making six a lucky number. The hexagon, which in Chinese invokes the six directions (North, South, East, West, Heaven, and Earth), denotes completion, harmony, and balance, giving the number additional meaning. These connotations also bring to mind the life of Wu Zetian, whose cunning, bravery, and decisiveness helped her empire maintain stability.
In a time and place where women were not given any consideration, Nūr Jahān the most powerful woman in 17th-century India, assumed control. Mihr un-Nisa, her birth name, subsequently changed to Nūr Jahān, a name that means "The light of the world," was known for being an adept hunter, a wise ruler, a superb architect, and a delicate poet.
Nūr Jahān didn't have a loyal background, and after becoming a widow, she joined Jahandir, the Mughal Emperor,'s harem. She quickly rose to the status of the Emperor's favorite wife and started to influence political choices.Ner Jahn, the dynasty's sole female king, is highly respected in Bangladeshi, Pakistani, and Indian tradition.
In addition to being an excellent hunter, diplomat, and counselor, Nūr Jahān was a gifted architect who created a tomb for her parents at Agra that served as a model for the Taj Mahal. In fact, her parents' mausoleum is referred to as "the little Taj Mahal" due to its original design. Damien Hirst gives particular emphasis to this architectural aspect of Nūr Jahān and her Agra tomb design in this piece.
Single or paired wings in dramatic red and black tones of different dimensions are grouped into symmetrical patterns in Nūr Jahān. The wings radiate forth from the center in four directions—vertically, horizontally, and diagonally—creating captivating patterns that lead the eye to the center. The surrounding arrangements of wings appear to be retreating, drawing the viewer's attention to the central pair of wings in the focal square composition. This complex, tectonic structure is reminiscent of Nūr Jahān's architectural achievements and the magnificent mosaic tiles that adorn the Agra tomb.
The arrangement of Nūr Jahān is always changing; the more the observers positions themselves in front of it and studies it, the more new passages of patterns of remarkable wings become apparent. This is especially true of the substantial black and red pairs of wings that form an irregular framing around the composition's outer edge. By doing this, Hirst gives this structured composition a sense of life, suggesting that these butterflies are caught in the middle of a range of flight directions.
Theodora was Justinian I's wife from 527 until her passing in 548, making her the most significant Empress of the Byzantine era. Despite her modest beginnings, Theodora and her husband are revered as saints in both the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox churches. Theodora was considered to be the formal ruler even though she was not. She was her husband's partner in decision-making and he heeded her smart and dependable counsel in crucial circumstances throughout their reign.
Theodora promoted pro-women policies, such as declaring the trafficking of young girls illegal. Under Theodora's direction, Justinian I issued decrees establishing the death penalty for rape, extending women's rights to property ownership, granting mothers some parental guardianship rights, and outlawing the execution of an adulterous wife. Many people genuinely questioned whether Theodora rather than Justinian was in charge due to her influence over the empire.
Theodora's butterfly wings combine various shades of red and black into a fascinating asymmetrical design that is unique to the series. The print is divided symmetrically into thirds horizontally and halves vertically, with a circle established in the upper half of the print. The composition is defined by lines of dazzling red that are only visible up close. The most noticeable elements are the lower horizontal band, the circle, and the vertical line, which together resemble the feminine gender symbol. Such brings to mind some of Theodora's historic measures that aided women, such as outlawing the trafficking of young girls and changing divorce laws to increase the rights of women.
The degree of structured chaos in Theodora's arrangement of the wings, which appear throughout the piece in pairs or singly, makes it stand out. The skillfully planned asymmetrical composition gives the impression that these wings are alive with movement, zoomed across (and perceptibly beyond) the picture plane and not just dead specimens organized for the viewer's aesthetic enjoyment.
Empress Suiko was the first woman to ascend the Chrysanthemum Throne, she reigned for 35 years, from 593 to 628. Only eight women have ever ruled Japan. Suiko was one of the first Buddhist monarchs, and among her many accomplishments are the recognition of Buddhism in Japan, the establishment of diplomatic ties with the court in 600, the adoption of the Twelve Level Cap and Rank System in 603, and the adoption of the Seventeen-Article Constitution in 604.
Damien Hirst's creation has a definite circle-like shape. The butterflies are arranged in a circle with one in the middle. The circle is particularly important when discussing Buddhism and Japan. It is a symbol that characterizes Japanese aesthetics and culture. Depending on the context, it may also be referred to as Dharma or Enso. Some concepts that are directly related to the circle are illumination, elegance, universe, and emptiness.
Suiko's compositional arrangement evokes Buddhist iconography and the life cycle as variously sized paired wings radiate forth from the center of the piece to form a symmetrical concentric circle. Glittering red lines that span the composition diagonally from the center to reach each corner help to define this circular design in an eye-catching way. The lines run through the pairs of bodiless wings, set against a red background, where the bodies previously were.
Suiko is a work in the series that, like the other pieces in it, is constantly changing. As one stands in front of the piece, the butterflies move and change. From a distance, the composition has a fresh life, despite the fact that the print's intricate details can only be fully appreciated up close. Suiko appears to have a ballooning configuration of wings that are arranged around a central pattern of concentric circles and are complemented by outward arrangements of additional wings from this angle. This configuration is reminiscent of a biological or molecular structure, evoking the organisms it represents.
Ethiopian noblewoman Taitu Betul served as empress of the Ethiopian Empire (1889–1913) and Emperor Menelik II of Ethiopia's third marriage. Together with her husband Menelik II, who was the ruler of Shewa Province at the time, they established the city of Addis Ababa, which is now the nation's capital, in 1887. She is regarded as a key figure in the history of African women and a pioneer in the struggle against colonialism.
Following a number of marriages, Betul wed the Choa Sahle Myriam monarch in April 1883 who need assistance in the north of the nation. With his position strengthened, Sahle Myriam assumed the title of Menelik II, King of the Kings of Ethiopia, in 1889, and Taytu Betul rose to the position of Empress and became one of her era's most powerful women.
Taytu Betul resisted Italian colonial policies in her nation as a skilled diplomat and fervent nationalist. Any talks that would result in Ethiopian territory being lost were opposed by the Empress. Taytu Betul coordinated the on-the-ground troop supply during the Battle of Adoua in 1896, where the Italians were humiliatingly defeated.
After her husband's passing, she was neglected by Menelik adversaries and the populace. Whether she was powerful or unpopular, Empress Taytu rose to the situation and contributed to building the Ethiopia of today. As a result, her legacy has contributed significantly to Ethiopia's modern history.
Taytu Betul draws attention to the spiral, which is made up of pairs of red and black wings, right away. It starts in the middle of the piece and extends outward, seemingly beyond the picture plane. When Taytu Betul led her army into battle to defend their borders, the momentum that grows as the piece progresses echoes her fervor and physical commitment. These wings are complemented by additional arrangements of wings in different sizes, colors, and patterns that serve as a secondary backdrop to the work's main activity.
Taytu Betul stands out from the rest of the collection for its tenacious effort to capture the butterflies in their authentic, living state. The print's aerial-like design invites viewers to look downward as the composition spirals and develops dynamically, capturing the movement of this group of butterflies.
]]>Yves Klein's work revealed a new way of conceptualizing the role of the artist, conceiving his entire life as a work of art. "Art is wherever the artist goes," he once declared. According to him, beauty existed everywhere, but in a state of invisibility. His task was to capture beauty wherever it was to be found, both in matter and in the air. The artist used blue as a vehicle for his quest for immateriality and infinity. His famous "bluer than blue" shade, to which he gave the name IKB (International Klein Blue), is such an intense and particular color that it not only attracts the viewer's gaze, but is engraved in his memory.
At the time of its creation, some artists and critics considered IKB an outrage; after all, how could an artist be so arrogant as to personally lay claim to a color? Others, however, considered Klein a genius, a predecessor of the age in which we now live, an age in which even the most insignificant and irrelevant intellectual property is jealously guarded. Even today there is much debate on this issue, although that debate is largely fueled by a fundamental misunderstanding of what IKB really is and what Klein did to vindicate it.
To believe that IKB was a new color is wrong. It was not. IKB is merely a formula for conveying a color that already existed. The other misunderstanding is that Klein patented IKB, thus claiming ownership and the right to use and market it in the eyes of the law. This is not true. Yves Klein only registered IKB by means of a Soleau envelope. The Soleau envelope (French: Enveloppe Soleau), named after its French inventor, Eugène Soleau, is a sealed envelope used exclusively to precisely date an invention, idea or creation of a work. The sender of a Soleau envelope makes two copies of the description of an idea. One copy is sent to the office that registers the intellectual property and the other is kept by the applicant. The Soleau envelope that Klein sent to the French government to register IKB was accidentally destroyed, so we can only confirm that IKB was ever registered because of the copy Klein kept. In any case, a Soleau envelope does not imply ownership. Unlike a patent, the depositor has no exclusive right to the claimed idea or invention. Although a Soleau envelope can be used to archive a creation and accurately date its contents, it does not constitute an industrial property right. It does not grant any direct protection and the Soleau envelope is not a substitute for a patent. And the invention of the IKB was just that, an invention, an idea.
Every painting basically starts as a solid. A plant, rock or insect is turned into a powder and then mixed with a binder, to create something liquid that can be applied to a surface. The color of the solid largely determines the color of the paint. In Renaissance times, the most prized, rare and expensive paint color was ultramarine: a spectacular blue pigment. It was created by grinding lapis lazuli, a type of metamorphic rock, i.e., one that changes under pressure like coal, which metamorphoses into diamond. Although today it is found on at least four continents, at the time lapis lazuli was only mined in what is now Afghanistan. Its rarity and the cost of importing it to Europe is what made it so expensive. In turn, its value, along with its particularly intense color, led painters to believe that it was the perfect pigment to represent royalty and sanctity, so it was a common color in religious paintings and portraits of kings and queens. Yves Klein also loved the vibrant qualities of ultramarine, but was bothered by the fact that when the pigment was mixed with fixatives to cover the surface of a painting, the fixative changed the color.
Klein's reasons for seeking the most intense and pure blue possible were rooted in an early failure he suffered as an artist. Believing that he could use pure color to express the perfect spiritual essence of human feeling, he mounted two consecutive exhibitions in 1955 and 1956 of monochrome canvases, each of a single solid, pure color. The paintings were totally misunderstood. The public saw them as decoration rather than as abstract expressions of pure emotion. After some reflection, Klein decided that perhaps this misunderstanding was due to the fact that the monochromes were of multiple different colors, which confused viewers. So he decided to focus on a single color for his next exhibition.
In 1956, Klein enlisted the help of Edouard Adam, a paint and pigment dealer whose Parisian store was a haven for artists in the second half of the 20th century. The beginnings were complicated. The blue pigment inevitably lost its velvety appearance and intensity as it dried. This was because the binder needed to fix the color changed its texture and therefore its essence. Klein and Adam tried different formulas - linseed oil, hide glue, casein - but without much success.
"I was looking for a fixing medium capable of fixing each pigment grain to each other, and then to the support, without any of them being altered or deprived of their autonomous possibilities of irradiation, while binding them to each other and to the support, thus creating the colored mass, the pictorial surface."
Adam and Klein turned to the chemical manufacturer Rhône Poulenc. The research led to the development of a polyvinyl acetate binder (a synthetic, petroleum-derived resin) that they registered under the name Rhodopas M or M60A. This resin, which also acts as a fixative, has a high capacity to shrink upon drying, allowing the pigment to remain matte and spongy, unlike other binders. Rhodopas, together with 95% ethyl alcohol and ethyl acetate make up the solvent in which the dried synthetic ultramarine blue pigment is suspended, achieving the stunning paint Klein was looking for: a paint that retained the "extraordinary self-contained life" of the ultramarine blue pigment. The resin, which is still manufactured today under the brand name le Medium Adam25, can be purchased at the same store where Klein stocked up in Montparnasse.
However, the discovery of a research work by art conservator and restorer Christa Haiml, who was trying to repair the damaged work of Klein Blue Monochrome (IKB 42) (1960), proved invaluable. IKB consists of a specific binder and a specific pigment. Interviewing Edouard Adam, Haiml discovered that: There is no true IKB pigment. The "pure ultramarine blue, reference 1311", which sounds so precise in Klein's recorded formula, refers to a blue that Adam bought from his pigment supplier at the time, but his suppliers changed over the years and the provenance of 1311 can no longer be traced exactly.
IKB was not only the perfect blend of pigment and resin, but also an idealized material manifestation that perfectly represented an idea. Surprisingly, he only created about 200 works with IKB before he died. However, in that short space of time he managed to elevate IKB painting to the status of something truly unique and, in the opinion of many, sacred.
]]>Yves Klein tirelessly sought the essence of art, hoping to reveal its fundamental immateriality. In sculpture he found a liberating medium through which monochrome art could permeate space in three dimensions. In 1962, the year of his death, Yves Klein created some of his universally known masterpieces, bathed in what became his signature: IKB blue. These sculptures were published between 1982 and 2001, and are now avidly contested by collectors around the world. In 2022, the sixth edition of the ones published after the passing of the artist comes out, "L'Ours Klein".
The six official editions published after Yves Klein's death are as follows:
In 2022, on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the artist's death, Artémus Éditions, a French art publisher passionate about Yves Klein's work, proposed to the artist's Foundation to place the famous International Klein Blue (IKB) on an equally iconic sculpture. The "L'Ours Blanc" (The Polar Bear), a masterpiece by fellow Frenchman François Pompon, was presented 100 years ago at the 1922 Salon d'Automne. François Pompon sought to capture the essence of form and movement, Yves Klein with his IKB sought to capture the essence of color and from the fusion of both ideas this edition was born.
Pompon reinterpreted animals by depriving them of detail when depicting them in his sculptures. Although the result was not loyal to the real image, Pompon was able to capture the fluidity of movement, pose and texture. A giant sculpture, "L'Ours Blanc", was first exhibited at the Paris Salon d'Automne in 1922. The artist created this bear a few more times using different media, the most famous is sculpted in stone and can be seen in the Musée D'Orsay in Paris.
In 1954, Klein went to Édouard Adam's studio in Paris to try to find a way to achieve the purity of the ultramarine blue pigment. It was Adam who developed the medium that Yves Klein was looking for, which respected the intensity and texture of the original pigment when applied to his works. This combination of binder and pigment was registered by the artist in 1960 under the name IKB (International Klein Blue).
This edition unites the legitimate owners of the rights of Yves Klein and François Pompon to create a work that is coherent with the heritage of both artists. It should be noted that the high standards and demands of the foundations in charge of the image of both artists have been the guidelines throughout the production of the edition to achieve museum quality.
Artetrama is proud to offer this "L'Ours Klein", a handmade resin sculpture of 40 cm long, created in an exclusive edition limited to 999 copies and whose individual numbering is located under the leg of the right rear flank. The Bear is fixed and protected by a plexiglass bell and is sent inside its box, which is created for this edition, and has a delicate and elegant design, according to its content. Artetrama uses the exclusive shipping service "White Glove Service", which allows us to deliver the artwork through a courier specialized in the handling and transportation of works of art.
This exquisite piece is accompanied by its certificate of authenticity, which, unsurprisingly, is numbered, stamped with the publisher's seal and signed by representatives of the rights holders of both Yves Klein and François Pompon.
Yves Klein left behind an important body of work and an archive containing a large number of documents, writings, photographs, films, audio recordings, books and notebooks. All these archives were collected and preserved by his widow Rotraut Klein Moquay, who is now continuing this work.
The mission of the Yves Klein Archives is to contribute to a better knowledge of the artist's work, to work on the elaboration of a new catalog raisonné, to organize and participate in various cultural projects and to be accessible to scientific and artistic research.
Created in 1997, the François Pompon Association is the only entity that defends today the work of the sculptor François Pompon (1855 - 1933) and his influence. Its aim is to encourage any research and dissemination that contributes to a better knowledge and promotion of his work. The association is managed by a Board of Directors of 12 members who, on the basis of the artist's will (June 5, 1929), defend the moral interests of François Pompon and ensure respect for his creations.
Don't miss the opportunity of acquiring this wonderful piece here.
]]>His most common editions are those produced in runs of 300 copies and are made through offset lithography with different finishes. Whether it’s Mr. DOB, Kaikai Kiki, smiling flowers, colorful skulls, Flower Balls, self-portraits... all this iconography, so characteristic of Takashi Murakami's work, is available to the public thanks to his graphic work.
In Artetrama we have been working with Takashi Murakami's graphic work for more than 10 years, during all this time we can say that there are three aspects of the work of this Japanese artist that our clients have consulted us the most. These are the date, the signature and the technique.
The date:
Each and every one of the copies that have been published by Takashi Murakami have, in addition to his signature and numbering, an inscription with the copyright of the image. This copyright, which is usually found at the bottom of the work, contains the title of the work and a date. This date refers to the year in which the image that is reproduced in that edition was created and patented. The date that galleries and auction houses provide as information about the work is the date of publication of the limited edition, which usually does not match the date that appears on the copyright of the offset lithograph, silkscreen or archival pigment print in question. In other words, the date provided by the professionals is the date of creation of the limited edition on which the image is based, not the date of the copyright, which might have an earlier date.
BOKAN- Camouflage Pink (2013)
The signature:
As just mentioned, all of Takashi Murakami's graphic work is signed and numbered by himself. At some point, a Murakami collector will start comparing works and suddenly realize something strange: the signatures are different! Yes, Takashi Murakami's signature evolves from a more or less legible scrawl to large loops.
In his early works, Takashi Murakami limited himself to stamping his first name, Takashi, along with the year. From 2001 to 2004 his relatively legible signature changed to a similar but more fluid one. The first noticeable change in his signature occurs in 2005, when it becomes a wavy line. The line tends to flatten out, but generally remains the same until 2010. This linear signature actually proved useful during the period 2005-2010, as the second half of that period marks the beginning of increased production.
Takashi Murakami employs this type of signature until 2011, however, some of his works from early 2011 mark the transition from the looped line to a signature composed solely of loops, which has predominated in his editions since then. In 2020, the looped signature is maintained for his offset lithographs, but it is at this point that Mr. Murakami makes another change. As we can see in his new series of archival pigment prints and serigraphs, his signature returns to that linear image but incorporating graphics in the middle.
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Technique:
Murakami's enigmatic nature contributes greatly to his growing popularity. He is obsessed with breeding beetles, his puppy Pom, traditional Japan, the effects of World War II in Japan, and international pop culture. This amalgam of concerns makes his creative process very dynamic, but not without some side effects. On many occasions, his obsession for perfection has made his fans wait impatiently for works that were months late, as was the case with the Kansei series.
Although the process of creating Takashi Murakami's limited editions at his Kaikai Kiki factory is a mystery, certain techniques are recurrent in many of his editions. The most common editions are limited to 300 copies, all offset lithographs, however, other techniques such as cold or hot foil stamping, the use of silver or UV varnish appear in their descriptions.
Hot stamping consists of applying a metal foil to the paper with pressure, heat and a cutter. In contrast to this hot foil stamping method, there is a cold foil stamping option that works by applying the foil (metallized paper) as if it was an ink. The cold foil stamping process lends itself to gradients and halftones, unlike traditional hot foil stamping.
Thanks to cold foil stamping, many of Takashi Murakami's works have those gold or silver backgrounds that he likes so much and that refer to traditional Japanese painting. Works such as "The Golden Age: Hokkio Takashi" or "Kyoto: Korin" are examples of cold printing, which can be seen in the details or gold or silver backgrounds. When reference is made to the use of silver, Murakami's works adopt a pearly character that predominates, for example, in his limited editions "And then...", his self-portraits such as "I met a panda family" or "A space for philosophy" or in the diptych "Homage to Francis Bacon (Study for Head of Isabel Rawsthorne and George Dyer)".
"The Golden Age: Hokkio Takashi" (2016) |
I met a Panda Family (2013) |
As a summary, we could say that a Murakami collector can choose which pieces to acquire based on multiple factors, as we mentioned at the beginning of this article. The work of this Japanese artist is so wide and varied that becoming an expert is quite a challenge!
]]>As a young boy, Yves worked in his aunt's bookstore, where he befriended the artist Arman (Armand Fernandez) and the composer Claude Pascal. Together they visited the long pebble beach of Nice and, with a certain eloquence, divided the whole world: Arman chose the earth, Claude chose the words, while Klein, lying on his back facing the wide blue ceiling, chose the sky.
It seems that the purity and vastness of the sky appealed to him deeply. Klein himself would later write: "As a teenager I wrote my name on the back of the sky in a fantastic imaginary journey... Since then I hate birds for trying to pierce my greatest and most beautiful work! Away with the birds!".
Klein began his artistic career in the mid-1940s, at the age of 18 or so. Perhaps because his parents were painters, he was immediately determined to go beyond the conventions of mural art. In 1948, he would begin to work on one of his most remarkable and surprising works: a musical composition on a single note followed by a long silence, which he called Monotone-Silence Symphony.
Pursuing to satisfy his adventurous instinct, between 1948 and 1953 he dedicated himself to travel. First he would visit Italy and then England, where he worked in a framing workshop learning to gild with gold leaf. Later he would go to Ireland, Spain and finally to Japan. He would fill notebooks with photos, sketches and notes from his travels.
During these years he would also devote a lot of time to judo. Yves Klein was a holder of the prestigious 4th Dan degree, practiced it regularly and documented it with films and writings. The collaboration between his body and the martial art led him to "discover the human body as a spiritual space", as he later described it.
His Monochromes, initially in different colors, were first exhibited at the "Club des Solitaires" in Paris in 1955, and then at galleries in Milan, Paris, Düsseldorf and London. By this time, Yves Klein was already enjoying international renown. During 1957, together with Edouard Adam, he completed the creation of the color that he would call IKB (International Klein Blue), typical of the works of his "Epoque bleue" and which would remain his signature until the end.
With his blue works, Klein was looking for a purer way of painting and trying to go beyond a consensus definition of art. His desire to capture emptiness had certain avant-garde elements that were undoubtedly intended to give the occasion an absurd touch. However, these aspects concealed a deeply serious reasoning. Yves Klein spent most of his career searching for an aesthetic expression of "the void". He delves into the concept of the "totality of things", which by being so vast becomes empty, a quality similar to that of the sky or the ocean.
In 1958, at the Iris Clert Gallery in Paris, Klein caused a scandal by inviting 3,000 people to a private exhibition in which he showed nothing but an empty cabinet in an otherwise empty all-white room. As part of the show, attendees were offered a blue balloon to take with them and a blue cocktail to drink. He called the exhibition "The specialization of raw sensibility into a stabilized pictorial sensibility (called "Void")".
Some twelve years after its creation, on March 9, 1960, his strange conceptual symphony was performed in front of an audience of about a hundred spectators. A small orchestra and a choir would perform the Monotone Symphony: a high-pitched, continuous sound that suddenly gave way to total silence. The audio-performance was accompanied by three nude models, who climbed on stage and covered their bodies with blue paint before lying down on a large sheet of tracing paper placed on the floor. Klein himself wandered around the edge of the room, part director, part master of ceremonies. This method, in which the artist modified his relationship with the models, who became "living brushes," is what Klein would use in his Anthropometries series.
After expressing the "conceptual void" through his blue paintings and the "literal void" during his Iris Clert Gallery exhibition, in 1960 Klein jumped from the ledge of a building in a quiet Paris suburb. He titled this act "Leap into the Void". Captured by the photography duo Harry Shunk and János Kender, this image remains striking despite our current familiarity with photo-editing. (In reality, Yves was caught in mid-fall by an outstretched blanket grabbed by friends around every corner.)
In March 1961, Yves Klein visited New York and, with his future wife Rotraut Uecker, took up residence at the Chelsea Hotel, where he met many of the key figures in contemporary art of the moment, including Duchamp, Johns, Kline, de Kooning, Newman and Rothko. During his stay at the Chelsea Hotel he wrote the Chelsea Hotel Manifesto in which he explained the significance of his latest working method, which consisted of using gas flamethrowers to paint directly on the canvas:
"[...] I have succeeded in painting with fire, using very powerful and scorching gas flames, about three to four meters high, to lick the surface of a painting in order to record the spontaneous imprint of the fire.
[...] In short, my aim is twofold: firstly, to record the trace of human sentimentality in today's civilization; secondly, to record the trace of the fire that this same civilization has engendered. And this because emptiness has always been my constant preoccupation; and I maintain that in the heart of emptiness, as well as in the heart of man, fires burn".
These later works testify to a new direction in Klein's career, although he would never fully delve into it. The end of Klein's career came suddenly and tragically. In 1962, while attending the Cannes Film Festival, he suffered a heart attack during the broadcast of the controversial documentary Mondo Cane, in which Klein appeared and his work was ridiculed. In June of that same year, three weeks later, he suffered another heart attack that this time caused his death, at the age of 34.
]]>Shortly after graduating, Damien Hirst began working in his Brixton studio on a series of works inspired by the flies that got stuck to his freshly varnished canvases. With the idea of creating something beautiful, Hirst swapped the flies for butterflies, the latter being fixed to brightly coloured monochrome panels with a glossy finish. This was to be the key idea behind In and Out of Love, his first solo exhibition at London's Woodstock Street Gallery. It was 1991 and Damien Hirst was on the verge of a meteoric career.
This exhibition was divided into two parts corresponding to each of the gallery's two floors. The entrance floor, In and Out of Love (White Paintings and Live Butterflies), was particularly damp, with blank canvases hung on the walls on which were attached several butterfly cocoons about to hatch. In the centre of the room, the visitor could find a table with four bowls containing sugar water. Once the butterflies were born, they flew and fed free in the room until, attracted by plants strategically placed under the canvases, they were trapped by the primer and died stuck to the same place where they were born. In the basement, In and Out of Love (Butterfly Paintings and Ashtrays), the exhibition featured eight monochromatic, brightly coloured canvases with dead butterflies stuck to a glossy surface.
In an interview, Damien Hirst explained what his exhibition consisted of and spoke of both spaces: "One has a romantic side to it while the other refers to harsh reality. What I'm not sure is which is which".
Although this was the first time the public was able to see the butterfly figure as the centrepiece of Damien Hirst's work, it certainly wouldn't be the last. According to Hirst, everything revolves around love, dreams, ideals, symbolism, realism, life and death. In Hirst's works, the butterfly has its own discourse, full of contradictions and uncertainty.
The butterfly raises many questions for Damien Hirst. For example, the real image of a butterfly is quite different from the idealised image we have of it from our childhood, so its symbol in isolation exists as if it was not directly related to the insect it represents. On the other hand, the beauty of the butterflies, which remains immaculate even once they are dead, creates its own discourse that questions our way of seeing life and death. In addition, the artist plays with the idea of a unique nature, as no two butterflies have the same pattern, just as no two people are exactly alike.
All these characteristics form part of the central axis of his work. The most important and the one that comprises others is the "Kaleidoscope" series, which the artist began in 2001 and of which he is still producing work. The different series of works that make up "Kaleidoscope" have this symbolism, which is reinforced by the arrangement of the butterfly wings, the colour pattern used and the title of the work in question.
In 2008, Damien Hirst created 150 works in a series he entitled "Psalms", in which each painting takes the title of one of the Old Testament psalms. The works, made with butterfly wings and household paint, allude to Christian spirituality and iconography through patterns similar to those found in church windows, an idea he had already worked on a year earlier in his famous series of limited edition silkscreen prints "Cathedrals".
Again in 2015, the artist turned to the figure of the butterfly to produce a series of works that have nothing to do with the symmetry and intricate kaleidoscopic patterns of his previous series. It was "The Wonder of You", a series consisting of six limited edition prints whose titles allude to those sensations that are transformed into the memories that remain when the person is no longer there. "Your Feel", "Your Smell" and "Your Touch" are some of the suggestive titles. In this series Hirst takes up his initial idea and shows hyper-realistic butterflies on colourful monochrome backgrounds.
"Mandalas" (2018-1019) would be the next great series whose star motif is the butterfly. This is a series of large-scale works in which Damien Hirst creates intricate concentric patterns made up of hundreds of butterfly wings. In contrast to his previous kaleidoscopic series, Mandalas refer to Eastern cultures and focus on concepts prevalent in Hindu, Buddhist, Jain or Shinto traditions.
Hirst's latest series, "Elements" and "Empresses", continue to use the butterfly to emphasise and dramatise the work. In the case of Elements, the artist plays with colour to represent Air, Fire, Earth and Water, and through the butterflies, evokes the ancient spirituality of the elements, referring to order and chaos and the way they balance the scales, creating a harmony that has been the cornerstone of philosophy, science and medicine for hundreds of years.
To date, the "Empresses" is the last series the artist has created, once again drawing on his beloved butterflies. Through the five works that make up the series, the artist pays tribute to five great women in history. All of them have only two colours: black and red, colours that appeal to death but also to love, royalty, elegance, power, passion and femininity. In this context, the butterfly has a special meaning if we pay attention to terms such as beauty, suffering, fragility or permanence. You can find all the works in the series available in our gallery here.
]]>Well, nowadays, we have in front of our eyes many artists going beyond "conventional" art and, with their own ideas and styles, are defining the basis of new artistic movements. Below we will give seven reasons to believe in urban art.
1. Because the street is a museum
Since Banksy turned from being an unknown graffiti artist pursued by the law to one of the most sought after artists by major collectors, urban art is not a thing about two kids with a couple of spray cans painting on the streets anymore. Now they are closely seen. Each street artist has his or her own style and meaning. Today, we have in some cities, a great museum in front of our eyes every time we leave our home. Internet is full of pictures of abandoned walls with elaborated works shown out in the open. It is possible that, as some of these artists achieve greater recognition, these walls may disappear and end up in a mansion of someone that has paid hundreds of thousands of dollars for his or her own private benefit. Of course, nothing could be further from the artist's intention.
2. Because we understand the message
Most of urban artists are young people concerned and with access to new technologies; they know what’s happening in the world. For example, in the globalized world we live in, it is very easy to know the situation of less fortunate countries, and we are more affected by it because we see the injustice with just a click; consumerism in western countries is growing steadily, maybe because we receive advertising through a wider range of media that creates needs, in many cases, absurd.
Urban artists take as a reference the reality of the world that surrounds them to express themselves and, since it is the same reality that embraces our lives, we feel identified with them and therefore with their message.
3. Because it makes us think
Each work is the image of a thought, opinion, reflection or critic done by the artist. A painting on a wall is not only there to decorate or to spread a signature and its style. If we pay attention to what we are seeing, we will notice that the image also transmits something that makes us think. Normally these artists draw on their ingenuity to get to us and make us reflect on their message. Whether it's taking a smile from us, horrifying us with brutality or delighting us with a really nice design, they try to surprise us and this way, without realizing it, we end up taking some time and making an inner reflection about their work.
4. Because it is within reach of many
Artists like Banksy or Kaws are already so renowned that their original work has inevitably been quite appreciated. Others, like Martin Whatson or Pure Evil are starting to set a trend, and it is to assume that their value will be increased in a close future. The good thing is that, as if being the new Warhols, these artists believe that their work should be owned by of anyone that wants it without having to pay out a considerable amount. For this reason all these artists have, besides their original works, a wide market of prints where we can find plenty of techniques such as screen prints, lithographs or gliclées of limited editions that they sign and number themselves, so that a bigger public can have access to their work.
5. Because there are no limits using techniques
Artists like Mr. Brainwash or Lora Zombie don’t have academic studies but they have developed from their talent a style of their own that makes them unique. Either if it's by watercolour, collage or mixed media, many of these artists have created a particular label that tells them apart from others. As an example, Roamcouch creates his own stencils by hand, and weather it may seem unbelievable, his realistic cityscapes can take up to 50 layers hand drawn and hand cut.
Regarding graphic works, it is quite common to see screen prints hand finished with spray paint or layers of materials unusual in traditional printing.
6. Because it is an investment
Needless to say is that urban art, even though it has been brewing as an artistic movement for more than a decade, it is starting to have a relevant impact these days. It is to assume that all these young artists, with a short but yet very promising career will be highly appreciated in a future.
7. Because it helps to create a better society
Many are the artists that use their recognized status, achieved by merits of their own, to denounce injustice and help to create a better world. As an example, Shepard Fairey (OBEY) takes his message beyond, elaborating along with his works some kind of manifesto which is intended to open our eyes to that reality known by all of us and to awake a feeling of commitment. In addition to this, with the sale of his works he sets aside a part of the money collected and donates it to social welfares. Banksy, characteristic for his satirical and sharp message of social criticism, also collaborates with non-profitable projects in search of help for those in need.
]]>By early 90’s and after denying Japanese contemporary art by considering it boring and snob, Murakami gets interested by mass Japanese culture and specially by Otaku subculture. Inside this "underground" culture we find artistic expressions such as manga or anime. If we consider a dialogue between popular culture and the Fine Arts, relationship between Murakami and Andy Warhol is undeniable. This is why in 1992 the arts critic Noi Sawaragi coins the term Japanese Neo Pop.
During this decade, Murakami will explore the contemporary mass culture to establish a contextual reference from which he can conceive his production. This is how Superflat concept is born, through it Murakami finds the way to unify art and traditional Japanese culture with mass culture and solves the identity problem of nowadays contemporary Japan.
Understanding Superflat concept means dealing with a double reflection that Murakami does in an attempt to rescue the basic knowledge of traditional art and culture to redefine them on a contemporary scene. He does it on one side, by defining the aesthetical aspect and on the other side the discursive aspect.
According to Murakami, in an aesthetical level, this concept has always been present throughout Japanese art history. The Japanese art historian Nobuo Tsuji, in his book "The lineage of eccentricity" (1970) talks about a number of artists with expressionist trends that belong to the Edo period (1625 – 1868) and about creators of eccentric expressionist images from which Murakami himself recalls an aesthetic inheritance that gives room to contemporary visual expression forms such as manga.
This aesthetical heritage is based on a pictorial composition where bi-dimensionality of elements stands out through the absence of light and shades and the multiple point of view, so that all the elements of the artwork have the same importance. By avoiding a single point of view, the viewer is forced to make zigzag through a horizontal axis and thus Murakami intends the information about his artwork to be received layer by layer, so after a visual tour, all of this layers melt in one single superflat image. This way, Murakami establishes a new trend, formed by cartoonists, designers and artists, with postwar origins and whose ancestors can be found in Edo’s period most eccentric artists.
Even though Superflat concept is enounced on an aesthetical field, it also has a projection on other scenarios such as social, cultural or historical. According to Takashi Murakami we must understand Superflat as a way to define traditional Japanese identity from modernity. It is a term from which we can talk about the past, present and future, linking them to give unity to Japan’s historical account.
Feel free to check out our Takashi Murakami prints!
]]>Those that are already familiar with the art of Takashi Murakami may know that Kaikai & Kiki is the name of this artist’s studio. In it, Murakami creates his works and promotes many other artists.
But Kaikai and Kiki are way more than just a brand. These two characters, that are normally shown together, were created almost by chance and are nowadays two of the greatest icons of this Japanese artist. The big question is: who’s Kaikai and who’s Kiki? Well, Kaikai is presumably a kid on a white rabbit costume. Kiki has a pink outfit, has three eyes and a couple of fangs. The truth is, if you know how to read Japanese it’s quite clear, as each one has its name written on the ears!
The name of these two characters has a unique origin, the word “kaikaikiki”. This term was used during the late XVI century to describe the works of the Japanese artist Kano Eitoku, of which it was said that his paintings were very powerful but charged with sensibility at the same time. In the book “Murakami Ego” written by Skira Rizzoli, it can be read about two different meanings for this expression as can be found both in Chinese and Japanese languages. In Japanese “kaikaikiki” in an adjective that describes something disturbing, strange and that can cause fear and uncertainty. However, when “kaikaikiki” is used in Chinese, it is to highlight the bravery, power and extreme sensibility of the subject.
The truth is that the main reason for Takashi Murakami to put these names to the couple of creatures was that it just sounds good. Nevertheless, we understand that there’s a symbolism on them not so casual.
Kaikai and Kiki are normally seen together because they both complement each other. Just like Jekyll and Hyde, ying and yang or the alpha and the omega, these two characters are commonly displayed in a particular manner: Kaikai is located on the left and with his/her mouth shut. Kiki, otherwise, is on the right side of his mate and has his mouth open. Let’s feel a little bit closer to Shintoism, then.
As we’ve previously said, Takashi Murakami is constantly making references to his culture and for that, he uses many characters and creatures such as Kaikai and Kiki. In Shinto shrines (Shinto is the autochthon religion in Japan) is quite common to find two figures with a lion-dog shape protecting their entrance called komainu. These komainu creatures are directly related with the karajishi lions of Chinese origin we can find in front of the Buddhist temples and of which we’ve already talked about in our post “Takashi Murakami: The legend of the karaishi”. These komainu always go in pairs and one has its mouth open, as a reference to the first letter of the Japanese alphabet “ah” and the other has its mouth shut like pronouncing the last letter “un”. These sounds represent the beginning and the ending of creation, life and death, themes also recurrent in the artist’s works.
Nowadays, Kaikai and Kiki are Takashi Murakami’s own gods of art and he pursues a constant search of beauty through them. Kaikai and Kiki, which not always have the religious and cultural connotations mentioned above, acquire different roles that get the audience closer to the artist. Kaikai is sweet and innocent; meanwhile Kiki is wild and naughty. It makes sense to think that these two creatures represent Murakami’s conscience in many of his works. This being said, we should pay special attention to their attitude, disposal and number in every image they are shown. As we can see, once more, Takashi Murakami’s characters have a meaning far beyond that what can be appreciated at a first glance.
Check out Takashi Murakami's Universe (part 1) in case you haven't yet!
]]>In each Murakami's work we can find, at a first glance, an image that stands by its beauty, it is colourful and fun. Lack of knowledge, as it commonly happens when speaking of art, makes it easy to tag this Japanese artists works' as simple, naïve or even frivolous. Nothing further from the truth. As we go deep into this world created by Murakami, we find multiple symbolisms that overwhelm for their complexity. To be honest, it may be possible that each artwork done by Takashi Murakami incarnates as much theoretical complexity as its creative process. But we’ll talk about this some other time.
Skulls, flowers or mushrooms build a flora and an environment to put a situation. Mr. DOB, Kaikai, Kiki, Takashi Murakami himself ore even his dog Pom are the true protagonists of each story.
As the viewer acquaintances more knowledge about this artist’s work, he/she can’t but to amaze about the cultural background that he owns. Takashi Murakami is not only a great artist but also a great connoisseur of his own culture, his history and is a great study of many issues such as painting or religions history. If we add to this so cultivated basis a great curiosity by the artist for today’s society, we come across the famous “superflat”. A style of its own that plays with all this elements and the flagship of Murakami’s work.
Meeting Mr.DOB
It is said that Mr. DOB is Takashi Murakami’s alter ego. Its figure has been repeated in many of his works and in them, it is been shown with different forms and number. Mr. DOB can have the most innocent and childish appearance in some works but in some other can be seen as a deformed, shabby and evil being. The number and its metamorphosis are part of this intellectual show that Takashi Murakami has prepared for us.
But, what does Mr. DOB mean? Well, a good translation could be “Mr. Questions”. DOB is the acronym of “dobojite, dobojite” a dada phrase created by Murakami that in Japanese slang mean “why?, why?”. This is the key concept of Mr. DOB, a being that constantly questions his surroundings.
But Mr. DOB is also a collection of ideas and images strategically designed that can slip away unnoticed at first sight. Western culture has quite a big relevance thanks to those huge ears, such as Mickey Mouse’s, and its red, white and blue colours make a reference to the United States flag. A couple of big eyes as the ones commonly seen in Japanese illustration finish this character, which relates the United States with Japan. Mr. DOB is a concept that represents the American influence over the Japanese image and design, emerged after the II World War, moment in which America animation takes Japan and these rebuild it creating their own identity, what we know today as “anime”.
An interesting work to talk about that can throw some light to what has been previously said is the 727 series. In it Mr. DOB is shown as a menace creature on a Nihonga style (traditional Japanese painting) background. This work represents Murakami’s fear and sceptical opinion on colonialism and excessive outbound influence, which could damage ancestral Japanese culture. The contrast between the depth and complexity of the Nihonga style opposed to the simplicity and flat colours of this “superflat”. figure, don’t make but to emphasize the existent juxtaposition of the superficial and banal of today’s consumerism against the multiple layers of a cultural background, rich in textures and tones.
Mr. DOB has its final transformation in Chaos, a mutant being that belongs to a dramaturgy in which the last purpose of existence is destruction and disorder. Takashi Murakami, born in 1962, grew up at a time when Japanese television was being fed by science fiction shows that destroyed Tokyo over and over and cities full of monsters and beings that ruled the planet and spread terror. It was as if Japanese society constantly repeated the chaos suffered after the II World War, as if they wanted to put the audience in a similar situation. To Murakami, this desire of destroying and being destroyed has its representation in Chaos.
As a brief, Mr. DOB is a resource that the artist uses in several occasions and that has different meanings depending on the context it is located. But, one thing we know for sure, is that we can get to know Takashi Murakami a bit better thanks to this big eared character, we just have to look closer, beyond its own image.
Want to know more? Check out TAKASHI MURAKAMI’s UNIVERSE (part 2)
]]>His work stands out for having a quality and level of complexity that borders on the unbelievable and the artist can spend up to a year for some of his works. According to Roamcouch, although urban art was born in the West and, therefore, it is more common to find artists of this trend in countries like the United States, Britain and France, he defines himself as an artist that belongs to this movement. Still, he admits to have a perception of art inherent to his origins and thus is able to treat urban art from a different perspective.
To create his work, the artist selects a palette of up to 50 colours and for each colour creates a layer, hand cut with a cutter. The overlapping of the images generated by the templates creates the work.
Roamcouch is not very likely to represent complex ideas because, as he himself admits, he is not interested. His personal circumstances made him have a particular point of view about visual arts; Roamcouch searches for beauty in the images he represents in the same way he does on the experiences that life offers. His works show landmarks of major cities like London, Paris or New York, and so the artist embraces Western culture.
His latest solo exhibition entitled "A beautiful life" held in UTBNY gallery located in the southern district of New York's Williamsburg, is certainly an appreciation of the positive things in life and, according to the artist, also a thank to his public. Roamcouch has great presence on social networks and in them the artist has thousands of fans who admire his art and his work.
Roamcouch often records “making off" videos of his canvases in which we can clearly see the intricate work involved preparing each. It is worth watching the videos below. In the first one, we can see how the artist works in one of his templates. In the second video the creative process of the canvas Rainbow Inc /Brooklyn Bridge is shown. In Roamcouch's YouTube channel you can find many more.
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In 1949 Warhol moved to New York where he worked as an illustrator and publicist, making his designs mark a starting point to create a particular style directly linked to the conception of a new movement, the pop art. Since his early years of career Warhol showed a great admiration for the movie stars.
Very soon he made out his great understanding of star’s worship, and he made it through his behavior in the social circles he frequented, a shy man whose appearance and introduction to the public was quickly associated with the pop movement.
Many were the celebrities that drew Warhol's attention but, without a doubt, the most relevant and captured in his work was Marilyn Monroe. She was chosen by the artist as his model when she had passed away and so contributing to make her posthumous fame greater than it already was in life, and giving rise to a forever myth.
It is undeniable the sexual attractiveness of the actress and sure it was one of the aspects that caught Andy Warhol's attention. But maybe the final element was the legend around her. The alleged physical abuse suffered by the actress in her childhood added to her premature and unexpected death at 36 may have made a special interest in the artist to immortalize and mythologize Norma Jean, aka Marilyn Monroe.
Other Warhol idols, also captured in his works, such as Elvis Presley or Elisabeth Taylor were also caught up in an aura of tragedy. Presley, from being a truck driver who sang to a generation's idol, suffered frequent depressions or Liz Taylor, from a spoiled kid to one of the best paid actresses of her time, had serious health troubles all her life. Even Marilyn Monroe herself came up to be desperate to break up with the stereotype of the sex symbol she was and begged for roles where she could show her value as an actress that never were given to her due to her physical appearance.
Andy Warhol, victim of a difficult childhood marked by illness, probably felt identified with these celebrities who played a main role in his creations during the 60's.
]]>Her series "Super Hero Cages" has taken Sandra Chevrier to the elite of nowadays trends. She is in. And the thing is that Sandra knows how to perfectly combine the aesthetic of the feminine beauty with the super hero comic world like no one does. The works that belong to this series are of an undeniable beauty, they are classy and they send a message. We can find multiple creations of this artist in many mediums, since she has developed her works using mixed media as well as limited edition printing in giclées and screenprints.
All "Les cages" works show us beautiful women wrapped in comic cartoons of Batman, Superman, Green Lantern… and the message appears to be clear: with the aesthetic demands placed on women today, it seems necessary to do miracles in order to fit in the beauty standards of our society and to have super powers to achieve these expectations.
But if we look a bit further we see that what the artist wants to transmit is not just that. Synonyms for cages could be jail, box, enclosure. These women can be found locked up behind the bars that we can all end up trapped in, men and women, and those are the bars of our own self-demands; our own complexes can restrict ourselves to a point where we don’t fulfil the dreams we aspire to. We all have an inner beauty that can be locked up behind the doors of our own emotions.
Despite the theme of her work that many have tagged as feminist, this is not the speech that Sandra Chevrier wants to give. Message is universal; it is just that she feels more comfortable expressing her emotion through the feminine figure, through the expressions of her eyes, the sensuality of her lips or the delicate touch of her hands. Men have the same boundaries and frontiers as women do and the fact that she likes better to present women in her works is no other than practice, instinct, she is just better at portraying female bodies.
It is interesting to know also the concept that Sandra Chevrier has about aesthetics. Very young he knew that he had an ability to create beautiful images. She is aware that the beauty of the images she creates is the first thing that captures the viewer. As in everyday life, we all tend to focus first on what attracts us, what we like. That's where she uses her "hook" to catch us, but if the rest of the work does not count and does not transmit, the work would fall into oblivion and would not make a difference.
The work of this artist is deep, spiritual, full of emotions. In the series prior to "Les cages", called "Drames en couleur" Sandra represented religious elements such as Buddhas, totems or goddesses along with architectural elements or objects of modern society and wild animals. The vivid colors of these works capture, once again, our attention to lead us to an inner personal reflection. The aesthetic balance between these elements invites us to meditate on how new technologies and everyday consumerism affect us and how they antagonize, at times, our cultural values, represented iconographically by theological elements, and with our most instinctive feelings and emotions. As in the works of this series, each of us tries to keep a balance according to what is most important to us, a balance between the material, the divine or the natural.
]]>But first let's briefly review the most common printing techniques in graphic works:
Serigraph: This technique of ancient origin and popularized by the Pop Art, involves placing a mesh on a support that prevents the passage of ink into the areas where there should be no image. If this process is repeated x times with different colors, then we obtain an image with x color layers. For example, the Andy Warhol’s Marilyn screen prints published by Sunday B. Morning have 5 layers of color, one for the background and eyelids, another for the hair, another for the shadows, eyebrows and lips, one for the face and another for the lips and neck. Some artists like Beejoir can use up to 70 layers to create a work, as we can see in his work Imodium 70.
Engraving: The artist draws on the surface of the plate carving where he/she wants the image to be. By applying ink on the surface, it will be hosted on all the remaining gaps, and pressing the plate on the media we get the image. Depending on the material used as the plate (wood, metal, stone ....) and the way in which the artist engraves it (directly, for example with a punch, or indirectly with products that corrode the surface) we will talk about different mediums, such as aquatint, etching, linocut, woodcut ... Some masters in the use of these techniques are the artists Antoni Tàpies or Antoni Clavé.
Lithography: Here the artist works on a plate of limestone. He or she creates the image using a fatty material and then moistens the stone. The next step is to add through the surface an also greasy ink. Attracted by the fatty material and repelled by the water the ink will create the image and, once the stone is pressed onto the support, this last one will absorb the ink. For each color a different plate will be made. Although this technique can be seen as an engraving technique, the difference is that the printed media has no reliefs because the plate is not carved but is drawn over it.
Giclée: This term is used for digital prints made with high quality inkjet printers and used for creating art. This term was created with the intention of distinguishing these impressions with an artistic purpose of the regular Iris prints, with an industrial cut but made with same printers (Kodak Iris printers).
In Artetrama we strive to give all the information we have about the works we provide. Thus, we can find descriptions like "Screen print hand embellished with spray paint on Archival paper". When we state that a work is hand illuminated, embellished, retouched or finished by the artist, we mean that the work in question is a print created using one of the techniques mentioned above, and also has a manual work added by the artist. This retouching or finishing can be done with ink, acrylic, spray or any other material which has not been part of the printing process. The works that have this type of finishing have a special attractiveness for collectors since, because of this manual work, each one is different to the others, which gives it a unique character.
Contemporary artists such as Josep Guinovart retouch some of their works by hand, such as the engravings of Imatges i terra series, which are hand finished with acrylic. Others like Steve Kaufman used oil to embellish their silkscreens and some such as Elvis II, also have glitter on the background, which gives it a striking shine and make a clear allusion to the style of the portrayed singer.
Martin Whatson often uses markers and spray paint to give a touch of color to his screen prints (we can see an example in his works Climber or Zebra. Pure Evil uses Poska and Krink inks or spray paint for his "hand finished" editions that are so unique that he numbers each one 1/1. Other artists such as Mr. Brainwash or Nick Walker use spray paint to finish their works but do this through a stencil, this is a cut layer through which the spray paint passes. Roamcouch, a true master when it comes to creating stencils, finishes some of his limited editions with pearlescent inks giving his work a very particular shine. An example of this can be found in the work Rainbow Inc. (sepia edition AP).
As for the artist Antoni Clave, some descriptions of his works presented on our website, mention carborundum or embossing. As we’ve discussed in our article All you need to know when buying fine art prints carborundum is a printmaking technique where a material, in particular silicon carbide powder, is added to the plate on which the image has been captured. This gives texture and shape the final work. However, embossing simply focuses on giving relief to the work by a plate with a bite of greater depth that may or may not be inked or through the incorporation of objects on the paper so that once pressured on, it creates a relief image. Some urban artists like Martin Whatson, Eelus or Sandra Chevrier use this technique to stamp their signature, apart from hand written.
In the case of screen printing, in some works as "Choose your weapon" by Lora Zombie, or "Nubian princess" by Hush, we talk about an "extra layer". This extra layer is the last to be printed onto the work and is usually printed with a different material to the inks used to create the previous layers. In the case of "Choose your weapon", the artist uses red foil (see detailed photos), while Hush gives the finishing touch to his work with a layer of UV varnish.
The UV varnish is used by many artists to give matte or gloss effects to their work. It is non-corrosive and resistant to abrasion. Applied to the silkscreen technique, a layer of this varnish can cover the whole work or part of it, as if it was a layer of paint. Takashi Murakami uses this material in some of his works to provide them with a high gloss. Example of this result may be Who's afraid of red, yellow, blue and death.
For other works by this artist we describe the medium as "offset lithograph with silver", which means that the work is printed with a silver layer to provide the image of a metallic effect. It is also quite common to find another peculiarity in some works by Takashi Murakami: What does an "offset lithograph with hot stamp" mean? And with cold stamp? Both make a reference to the temperatures that the materials involved reach during the printing process. Both finishing are different. For Murakami, with hot stamping he gets pearly effects and with cold stamping gets glossy colors because, in many cases, this process also involves the use of UV varnish.
As we can see, the graphic work is a complex discipline. The artist can use multiple mediums, tools and procedures for creating and add to his/her works different finishes. Depending on the purpose of the work, the artist's style and intentions, we find various media, materials and embellishments that make collecting fine art prints exciting.
]]>The movements arising from this moment radically break with that idea. The Italian Futurism incorporates the machine and motion, making items like cars or airplanes protagonists and stating that the industry is the new pillar on which the human being stands, which clearly trumps over nature. Cubism, with its deconstruction of the image, is the final step to rebellion and anarchy as the result of periods of repression but also inspired by the need to recover the form of the elements represented, lost in impressionism. Dadaism, with Schwitters and Duchamp to the head, create the paradoxical concept of anti-art and develop the theory of absurdity extolling everyday objects and taking them to art galleries. Examples such as "Dynamism of a Cyclist" by Boccioni, the "Guernica" by Picasso or "The fountain" by Duchamp make it clear that the conventional art represents the classical and the formalities and that these artists are the new face of art, modern and nonconformity.
If we skip a couple of decades and forward to the 50s, we find a young artist who experiments with kitsch and mass production. We are talking about Robert Rauschenberg, who puts all his efforts in bringing art to the general public and breaking with the seriousness and cultural elitism of Abstract Expressionism. Rauschenberg is the source of inspiration for artists such as Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns and James Rosenquist, parents of pop culture.
As we've just mentioned, until mid-century, art was rebellious and revolutionary, if only it was understood by few. Those with extensive academic background and cultural skills were the ones fortunate enough to be able to understand and appreciate what the artists represented. Even fewer were the ones who, besides possessing these qualities, had the buying power to acquire some of the works shown in art galleries. This is the moment in art history when the Pop Art appears. And the thing is that Pop is nothing more and nothing less than an abbreviation of "popular."; Pop art is about making art accessible to the people, at least culturally speaking.
In a time when consumer culture is in its great height, the line between art and advertising is so weak that disappears. Roy Lichtenstein uses the aesthetics of advertising vignettes and benday (weaved points that create an image typical of printing) with an ironic and sarcastic language to approach the public.
Andy Warhol (of which we have spoken on other articles such as "Andy Warhol's Idols" and "Andy Warhol: Marylin series"), takes mass production to another level. His depictions of Campbell's Soups and his portraits of movie and music stars, bring the ordinary to the art gallery. Andy Warhol gives a twist to artistic creation developing many of his works through a printing process typical of the industry like screen printing. This way, Warhol enhances the concept of popular through the process of creation of his works.
If we go ahead in time again, we arrive in the 80's. The end of the Vietnam War, the enmity between Russia and the United States and the end of the happy times of the disco era make these dark days. The art world suffers and the artists, frustrated for not being able to achieve a place in the great galleries, go out to the decadent streets where they find a space to express themselves. Thus, we find in the history of art DONDI (Donald Joseph White) and his "Children of the grave" (title of a song by Black Sabbath). Once again, art and the paradox, meet this time on three subway cars that are illegally painted at the public eye.
In an age of excess consumption, where money means power and happiness, artists like Jean Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring or Bleck Le Rat put their efforts into creating social awareness. Basquiat, under the pseudonym SAMO, leaves aside the tagging to create poems that revealed the existence of a part of the society marginalized and unprivileged, that coexisted with the yuppies obsessed with money. Keith Haring, activist for freedom and human rights, used his educating in graphic arts to redecorate the streets and the urban furniture with his unique style. Socio-political intentions were behind his depictions of life, death, sex and war. Bleck Le Rat, became known after spreading a plague of rats on the walls of the French capital, as, according to this artist, they are the only free animals that can be found in big cities.
It's inevitable seeing the many similarities between urban art and pop art. Both movements pursue the idea of making art available to the general public, either through painting, printmaking or in the street furniture in full view. It is also common to find, as we have already mention in our article "Street art, much more than graffiti", touches of irony, satire and parody on the Street art, pillars of Pop Art.
Thus, it is easy to see how the young urban artists today take as a reference, their predecessors. If we look at D*Face’s works, it's easy to see the influence of Roy Lichtenstein's comic vignettes. And like the latter, Sandra Chevrier is inspired and uses the comic to create impressive female portraits. Pure Evil, like Warhol, uses the image of the most famous faces of cinema and music to create his series of "nightmares". Surely the King of Pop is also a source of inspiration for Mr. Brainwash (we can see Kate Moss or Andy Warhol in works by this artist) or Shepard Fairey. Invader takes something as banal as the artistic image of video games and we can see the mosaics in cities around the world, but also inside the biggest galleries. It is undeniable that Bleck Le Rat inspires Banksy and he in turn to as many urban artists.
We can say that from the beginning of the vanguards of the twentieth century, artists have gone a step ahead of the social and political situation of their moment. Whether it was through the nonconformity, rebellion or the expression of an idea, we've observed the need to break with the most conservative and preconceived ideas. This has its greatest exponent with the emergence of urban art, that beyond aesthetic considerations, it explores ethical problems arising from mass consumption, globalization or capitalism.
]]>Yes, you can collect art without spending astronomical amounts of money. Sometimes, not knowing about the existence of the graphic works makes many people interested in art not to even think about the possibility of having an original work in their home.
Many are the factors that influence the price of a work. In the prints case the medium used, the number of copies forming the edition or the size of the work may be some features to consider when making acquisitions. Obviously, the artist’s demand what finally determines the price of the work. We can acquire serigraphs by Shepard Fairey for $50, but also for $1000. The size, edition, signature or year, are the key to assessing the work of any artist.
As we mentioned in our article "Rebellion as an engine of artistic creation in the twentieth century", Andy Warhol revolutionized the art market using print media industry to create some of his most important works. During those years many of these limited edition works were affordable for the average citizen. The prints he made with the Factory in 1967 are being sold today from $ 100,000 each and a complete portfolio consisting of 10 Marilyns can cost a million and a half dollars.
Just a few years ago Banksy sold some of his screen prints such as "Christ with Shopping Bags" or "Love is in the air" for 500 and 100 pounds respectively. The media impact that this urban artist has had in the last decade led to such a demand that the same serigraphs reached sale prices of $ 20,000 each when they were auctioned at Bonhams in 2012. Banksy’s value has risen so much that we can find unnumbered and unsigned prints in galleries for several thousand euros. We must not skip the fact that the works of many nowadays emerging artists can be worth a fortune in the future.
If you have an interest in starting a fine art prints collection, it can be overwhelming to have excessive information: styles, artists, galleries... Sometimes it is hard to know where to start and set a goal.
Many artists have their own catalogue raisonné of graphic works. In these catalogues it is specified the year, printer and/or editor and most important features of each. The collector can consult these catalogues and make sure that what he or she is buying corresponds what’s specified. Catalogues help us to structure and organize our collection. They can also be a very useful tool, not only to know more about a specific work, but also to know more about the complete graphic work of an artist.
The engraving, screen printing, lithography ... it is not unusual to find collectors who only acquire works of a particular technique. Finishes vary and each medium is not mastered by all the artists. For example, artists like Antoni Clavé or Andrés Nagel are considered master engravers for their impressive usage of the etching. The Takashi Murakami lithographs are noted for having very refined finishes and for using in his creations not so conventional modern procedures. Martin Whatson hand tweaked some of their limited editions and has a profile collector interested only in acquiring these works. Pure Evil, also with a large number of loyal collectors, makes his serigraphs of the "Nightmares" series always using the same paper with the same measurements, just thinking of those who collect his prints.
As mentioned, one of the factors that influence the price of printmaking is the limited number of prints in the edition. But this is a relative value, as this could be a big issue for an artist but may not be so for another with a higher demand. In addition, many artists work individually on each of the copies of the edition, so through the incorporation of additional mediums such as acrylic and collage, they give each number a greater exclusiveness that gives each print a unique character.
Besides these ones, there are many other reasons why more and more people are committed to make their own collection of fine art prints. The variety of techniques, the many different styles and the difficulty of finding certain pieces make this activity really exciting.
]]>Throughout the twentieth century history haven't been a few the collectors who, by acquiring works by almost unknown artists of that moment like Paul Cezanne, Pablo Picasso or Henri Matisse, came to owning great works and millionaire collections as a result of an astronomical profitability. Probably one of the best known cases is the Vogel's. This marriage made up by Herb and Dorothy Vogel, him a post office employee and she a librarian, started in the early 60s to earmark part of their incomes to buy artworks by conceptual and minimalist artists. For half a century they acquired works by artists such as Sol LeWitt, Christo, Chuck Close or Robert Mangold and, storing them in their small apartment in New York, they came to owning a formidable collection, one of the most important in the world. The extraordinary of this story about the Vogels is that they never speculated nor sold a single work and only when their apartment was full to the brim they decided to donate their entire collection to Washington's National Gallery of Art and to other United States museums. A great example of true love for art in times of greed and speculation where the only thing that matters are the number.
But not the whole market is represented by these extremely valuable works that have as potential clients great fortunes, in most cases, from emerging countries. There are many the artists and works that during this last years of economic instability have seen their quotation lessen. Without a doubt, this must be taken as an opportunity to acquire artworks at really nice prices.
Building an art collection is an exciting journey but it might impose too much respect and confusion to the one that is about to plunge. It is important to provide the collection with coherence; choose a group of artists, movements or periods may be interesting to overcome the initial disorientation. Studying the artists, evaluate their curriculum and go to their exhibitions will help us to determine the works that we want to be part of our collection. It is also important to compare prices, as it is a very variable market and it is quite common to pay for an artwork an important sum considerably higher than its real value. We must not become obsessed by trends, which often are temporary, we must guide ourselves by our own taste and by the feelings that arise while contemplating a work, we must start up the reasoning and the heart to carry out each of our purchases.
]]>Banksy is the pseudonym of a British urban artist of whom real identity is unknown and that has sold his works t in the most important galleries and auction houses worldwide worth for dozens of thousands of euros. He is responsible for the urban art to access galleries and exhibition rooms, being decontextualized from its urban media.
Even though he had shown his works before, maybe we find a turning point of what vandalism is and what art is in his exhibition "Barely Legal" in 2006, in Los Angeles. Thanks to this show, in a few days his prices and other urban artists' shoot up. Is that the moment when art collectors from all around the world want to be in that new market.
But Banksy want to show that his work is not about fame or money, and for that he suggests Thierry Guetta to make a documental that tells what the real story behind urban art is. Guetta has been spending quite a long time with his camera following graffiti artists as Shepard Fairey or Banksy and had the material needed to explain the world the truth about this new artistic expression.
A few months went by and Guetta edited his 90 minutes film reel of a nonsense image bombing. When Banksy watched it, he realized that Guetta maybe wasn't a filmmaker but “maybe was just someone with mental problems who happened to have a camera”.
Thierry Guetta adopted the alias Mr. Brainwash and starts to create his own murals in the streets of Los Angeles. Soon after that creates his own studio and starts to produce works to prepare his first show "Life is Beautiful". For that he sold his business and bet everything he owned, he had never done any exhibition before and pretended to make himself an artist from one day to the next. And he did it. His show had an unexpected success and Mr. Brainwash, almost immediately had an international recognition and became a star of the most important counterculture movement since punk.
Finally, that idea of producing a film that showed the reality of urban art ended up being a documentary ("Exit Through the Gift Shop", 2008), directed by Banksy himself, about how Thierry Guetta became Mr. Brainwash.
]]>Works done by Warhol about Marilyn Monroe are based on the picture taken by Gene Korman for Niagara film reel. He did about 50 works based on that image, but in this article we’ll analyse the series of ten colour variations created with screen printing technique and known as the Marilyn series.
The original series, made up by 10 screen prints with the same image but with different colors, was created in 1976. Carried out on Aetna Silkscreen Products Inc.'s museum board, these were edited by the company Factory Additions. They have a size of 91 x 91 cm (36 x 36 inches) and belong to an edition of 250 copies, some of which were signed by the artist and others inscribed with his initials. In some of them the date was written, in some others wasn't. There were also 26 portfolios done that belonged to artist proofs, signed and inscribed from A to Z.
Without a doubt, this is the most valuable series of all that have been released, having been paid for one complete Marilyn portfolio up to 1.5 million dollars.
In 1970, a new suite is edited using this same image but with another 10 new color variations and with another dimensions of 84.4 x 84.5 cm. Screen prints that belong to this series include on the back the stamps "Published by Sunday B. Morning" and “Fill in your own signature” both printed with black ink.
These Sunday B. Morning screen prints were included in Andy Warhol’s catalogue raisonne by Feldman & Schellmann, which collects all the graphic works done by the artist from 1962 to 1987. Oddly enough Warhol himself signed a few of these copies with the sentence “This is not by me. Andy Warhol”.
A third suite, known as the “European Artist’s Proof Edition” was done in 1985, using the same Marilyn image and with Andy Warhol’s signature stamped in it. It is unknown how many copies were released.
The fourth set that has been printed of this 10 Marilyn suite belongs to Sunday B. Morning nowadays and it can be distinguished by the blue stamps on the back. These prints are done from reproductions of the serigraphic screens used by Andy Warhol back in 1967, using the same paper with the same size and high quality inks, which gives the work very vibrant colors.
Regarding this last Marilyn series, there have also been edited Sunday B. Morning portfolios of Flowers, Campbell’s Soup and Mao suites.
You can check out our Sunday B. Morning screen prints available:
But, what does the stencil consist of? This media is simple and basically entitles creating a negative image or form by cutting a flat surface (a cardboard, for example), creating the stencil itself. Following, it is placed on the medium and spray paint is applied over it, so the positive left is depicted on that surface.
Without turning back to its most ancestral origins, the clearest reference of graffiti stencil as we know it today, has its roots in the World War II. The American army used stencils to place them on the equipment of their different units and tagging them this way so everyone knew to which division the soldier belonged to. But not only during war times the "stencil tagging" was born. Soldiers on both sides also used stencils to identify paths with symbolic images, painting them on the floor or over the building's walls, or to fill the enemy with fear, by decorating their heavy weapons with skulls or wild animals.
In the meantime, the first stencils on walls were firstly seen in Europe, in this occasion with a more political claim sense. These were used to show messages against the government. As mentioned before, the stencil is fast, a pretty good advantage when committing an illegal activity. On the other side, these messages on walls were also very useful as political propaganda. For example, the Italian dictator Mussolini used this stencil messages to influence the citizens.
This same philosophy of spreading political messages was appropriated decades later by the punk movement, very attached to a DIY (do it yourself) style. Bands like the British Crass, left a statement of their political views during the 70s across many cities in the United Kingdom.
This trend of attaching political messages with band names rooted so much into the punk scene that even the great Shepard Fairey recognises that his beginnings in urban art didn't come from the graffiti but from the punk propaganda of bands like Black Flag, Sex Pistols or The Clash.
Nowadays, the most popular urban artist at a global level is Banksy but, as we said long before on our post "Urban art, from the streets to the art galleries", the father of graffiti stencil as we know it today, is Blek Le Rat.
This French artist began creating his first works with spray paint in Paris by the early 80s. Through the stencil, Blek Le Rat managed to step aside from the New York graffiti style, which by those years was at its best thanks to artists such as Keith Haring or Jean-Michel Basquiat. Bleck Le Rat was the first one to provide the stencil technique with the fame that has today, thanks to his rats and real size human figures.
Blek Le Rat began his invasion of the French capital in 1981 drawing little rats in many different corners of the city. This rats (RAT is the acronym for ART) turned then into the artists unique stamp and a symbol of creativity and freedom. A bit later, in 1983, and inspired by Richard Hambleton and Pigneon-Ernest's works, Blek Le Rat created a series of human figures that depicted the image of an old man. The artist borrowed it from a picture illustrating an article on a newspaper which related the current situation in Northern Ireland. That man appeared in the picture yelling at soldiers that were intimidating the civils with their weapons. This man's attitude was taken by Blek Le Rat as a symbol of riot, freedom and, most of all, bravery.
]]>So here is Takashi Murakami representing these lions with their cubs playing around on the top of their parent above a bridge formed by human skulls. Since it is to assume that these cubs are the survival of the fittest, maybe the thought Murakami is giving us here is that growing up is not so easy...
But what about the titles of these two works we have here? Clearly "Of Chinese lions, peonies, skulls and fountains" tell us about these karajishi we’ve mentioned before, we see the skulls and we see the fountains on the sides but, as occidental-cultured, we may ask ourselves: where are the peonies? Well, shoguns (in medieval Japan, they were landlords with their own samurai army) had the lion as the strongest and king of all animals, and they had the peony as the queen of all flowers, so both the lion and the peony were symbols of luxury. Legends tell the lion, the most fearful animal was afraid of a tiny bug. A tiny bug that could get under its skin and eat him from the inside. But this bug was killed by the flower of the peony so karajishis would always be found resting over these flowers. Like in ying-yang, the fiercest creature is tempered by the most delicate of the flowers, the peony.
Regarding "As the interdimensional waves run through me I can distinguish between the voices of angel and evil!", the reference to Japanese traditional culture meets with the previous work. But it is possible that in this work, Takashi Murakami want to get us closer to a thought about multiple dimension worlds like Edwin A. Abbott does in his novel “Flatland: A romance of many dimensions”. In this novel Edwin A. Abbott tells the story of Square, from Flatland, whom one day has a revelation where he travels to a world unknown, Lineland. There, only one dimension exists and its citizens, dots and lines, can only move on a line back and forth. Square meets the king of Lineland to whom he tries to explain the reality of his world of two dimensions. The king cannot believe him, takes Square as a fool and expels him from his world. Back in Flatland, Square meets Sphere who tells him about a three dimensional universe, a concept that Square doesn’t understand and so he rejects Sphere the same way the king from Lineland rejected him. Square is only able to accept the existence of a world more complex than his when Sphere shows him Spaceland to make him understand that there are other realities different from his. The novel is a satire about the social hierarchy of the Victorian society and talks about learning to aspire and how to teach others to have aspirations and accept other realities. Maybe it is natural for the human being to consider our own perception as the right one, criticizing lower realities and not accepting whatever that contradicts our own perception of the world we live in. Relating this to Murakami’s work, he uses the term superflat to deal with his own work and he does it under a formal or aesthetic point of view, but projecting it into what is historical and social.
Finally, in these two pieces we can see a line of Chinese characters that belong to an ancient Buddhist text, it says: “Grass, trees, countries, the earth itself–all these shall enter wholly into Buddhahood.”
Takashi Murakami shows us in these works his knowledge about traditional culture and how he understands it making it clear that he is a man with deep thoughts about philosophy, religion and his spiritual roots.
]]>Surely the first question to be answered is what is printmaking? Even though it may sound strange, the answer is not simple. Traditionally we've heard more about engraving than printing and, although the term that concerns us now is being increasingly used and known by professionals and collectors, it is quite common to associate both concepts. Engraving is one of many techniques that make art printmaking as the procedure to create serial images. When we state that it is not easy to answer the question considered, we do it basing on the breadth of the term. Because there are so many print mediums and so different to each other that providing a valid definition for all of them would be almost impossible.
So, what are the basic requirements that a printed image on a media should meet to assert it as an art print? With the aim to answer this question, the III International Congress of Plastic Arts, celebrated in Vienna in 1960 established the principles that an original fine art print should comply.
It is also worth to mention two recommendations made by The International Society of Sculptors, Painters and Gravers on printmaking creation’s framework:
With all these said, we can't state that the reader not experimented with this subject has clear all doubts. But we won’t cease our efforts to do so. So let's keep going...
Which ones are the art printing techniques? As the list is really long, we will limit ourselves to discuss the most used ones. Of course, engraving deserves a special mention, perhaps because of the main place it has taken on the art development throughout history. Since Albrecht Durer on the XVI century, we can see how gravers such as Rembrandt, Goya, Delacroix or Picasso have used this printing technique to express their art. But engraving is not a medium itself but a group of procedures, like the etching or aquatint, developed to transfer an image from a metal, stone or wood block plate to a medium, usually paper or fabric.
You can take a look to a brief explanation about the most frequently used engraving techniques on our Printmaking section. You can also find more information about other printmaking techniques such as lithography and screen-printing on this section.
In our effort to clarify the doubts that can come up to the novel art print buyer, we find it important to mention two terms that can be easily found in many artworks descriptions: carborundum and embossing.
Carborundum can't be considered a printing method as such, it would be more correct to say it is an additive technique. This is a process where materials are adhered to the work, specifically silicon carbide, to achieve a pictorial effect. Its appearance is sandy and it is to highlight the versatility of it when it comes to represent lines or textures. It has been used with great skill by Spanish engravers such as Antoni Clavé, Antoni Tàpies or Joan Miró.
Regarding embossing, it is a process in which some areas of the paper are provided with relief. For that, the plate is subjected to a greater bite or corrosion by the acid with the intention of giving a depth enough to create a relief on the media. In this case, the relief is produced at the same time as the inking process does, but it is also quite common to do the embossing by pressuring the plate without any ink added first, or by adding cardboards or other objects with the intention of creating a dry stamp, this is, creating a relief without any inks added. Gravers like Eduardo Chillida or Antoni Tàpies have used embossing frequently in their creations.
We could say that art printing arises with the artists' need to produce a certain number of copies of the same image. For that, they use a number of mediums that can range from the most traditional ones we’ve already mention before to most modern ones such as the offset printing. This last one initially arose a huge scepticism as a medium for the creation of artworks, perhaps because it was a cheaper and more industrialised kind of lithograph. Many decades have gone by since reckoned artists began to use offset printing to create their exhibition posters. Nowadays there are many the artists that use it, occasionally combined with other techniques, achieving high quality images and an outstanding colouring. This is the case of the Japanese artist Takashi Murakami, who creates his offset prints with cold or hot stamp, a way to adhere the inks to the paper at low or high temperatures.
Related to modern fine art print techniques, we should also highlight the inkjet or giclée. The latter term is only used for fine art creations, using a really high quality printer. At first Iris printers were the ones used, but nowadays it is also very common to find Epson machines for creating serial works. Iris printers, worth more than 60.000 euros, use the standard CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow and black) inks and have a chromatic spectrum higher than the offset printing, giving up colours with more saturation, strength and brightness.
It is inevitable that a printing method like the ink-jet, capable of producing such high quality results, is adopted by the artists as a new and interesting medium to create fine art prints. And just as it happened to offset, it is a technique that has generated scepticism. But today, many there are the prestigious artists that are using it. Thomas Ruff, Luis Gordillo, or Rafael Canogar, have worked with ink-jet printing these last few years. Artists such as the great Robert Rauschenberg worked with this medium before this new century. In particular, he used ink-jet in 1996 to create his Arcadian Retreat series.
Today's artists that do not yet have a large career, but that are increasing their recognition day by day, as in the case of Canadian Sandra Chevrier or Dutch Handiedan , use giclée in their editions, since it is a technique that allows reducing timings and production costs and still getting a high quality result.
Coming back to the principles stated by The III International Congress of Plastic Arts to define art printmaking, let's remind two aspects: works must be signed by the artist and numbered. Here is where many questions can arise to a novel buyer. Following we will try to shed some light.
In the case of original fine art prints, as we've already seen, each copy of the edition must by hand signed by the artist. It may seem odd that we emphasize "by hand", is there any other way to sing something? The answer is yes. It is quite usual to find etchings or lithographs in whose description points out "plate signed". This means that the artist signed the plate or stone and therefore the signature was stamped, along with the image transferred, on each of the copies that belong to the series. But in these cases it is very usual that the artist doesn't hand sign each of the copies, even though they can be numbered. This doesn't mean that these works with the signature stamped may not have any value, to determine this, we should take under consideration other factors, for example if it is an original edition created while the artist lived or if it is an edition created after the artist passed away and based on an already existing artwork.
As we already know, besides being signed, an original art print must be numbered. The artist must indicate the numeration of each copy of the edition and the total number of copies made. In case the edition has 150 copies it will be signed from 1/150 to 150/150.
It is usual that a smaller part of the edition is numbered using roman numerals. It is frequent that these copies are included in separate folders and are considered as luxury copies with a higher value.
We often see copies marked with A.P. inscription, in Spanish P.A. and in French E.A. These copies are artist proofs and, as we’ve previously mentioned, they correspond to a 10% of the final edition. Sometimes the artist points out that is an artist proof and in other occasions he or she numbers them the same way he or she does with the rest of the edition. For example, if an edition has 15 artist proofs, the can be numbered 1/15 A.P.
Very appreciated by collectors are the state proofs. These are done by the artist to check the evolution of the plate as if a sketch of the final work it would be. All of them are different and are marked as P.E. I, P.E.. II, P.E.III, etc. P.E. stands for "prueba de estado" in Spanish, this is, state proof. Famous are the state proofs by Pablo Picasso; through them we can see the evolution of a work in which each proof brings something new to the final image.
Another kind of marking very often found in fine art prints is H.C. or Hors Commerce, proofs out of commerce. They are done by the artist with the aim to donate them to organizations, institutions or just as gifts. Despite they are not made for commercial purposes, most of them end up for sale at galleries or auction houses.
Collecting ideas of all that has been exposed, we can say that those people interested in art prints should be very conscious of the great diversity of techniques that build this art discipline. They should keep in mind that this medium is constantly evolving and artists take advantage of this. They should know that there are no boundaries regarding the use of them and the combination between them. Also they should take care when it comes to value the appreciation or the exclusiveness of a work by its attributes of signature and numeration.
While we could keep talking about fine art printing and clearing up doubts about some other aspects such as the papers used or the way the artist can work at the studio, we rather devote some future articles with these issues and hope that this one can be useful to clarify the main questions raised by those who are interested in purchasing fine art prints.
If you would like to know more about how to preserve fine art prints and avoid deterioration, you can check out our article Preserving fine art prints.
]]>Although it is still inevitable for many people to associate urban art or street art with vandalism, let’s not forget that in most countries it is illegal, the truth is that our mind is changing about it. It is somewhat paradoxical the fact that many artists are piling up fines for performing works without permission and pay them thanks to the restoration of public spaces curated by the city councils that sanction them. And even if this is as it should be, it is such the rise of urban art, becoming better known and supported by citizens, that many cities are trying to control this activity. As an example, Buenos Aires’s council provides the artists with permissions so that they can use public spaces to express themselves without costing them more money than the material needed to develop their work.
We won’t cease in our effort to learn more about this artistic movement and to share our discoveries with the reader. In our previous article Seven reasons to believe in urban art we glimpsed our weakness for street art and in this post we’ll dig in it a bit more, as there are many artists devoted to it, and each one has his or her own style. Following we will give some brief examples of the different kind of urban art styles that we can find. Our goal here is not to tag anyone but to explain the many forms or arts that any citizen can see on their city walls.
When we talk about urban art it is very usual to mix up simple signatures that we find in many city spots with street art. To a greater extent urban art doesn’t get its due recognition for this fact. It is quite common to find signatures spoiling local facades or shop windows that bring nothing more than ego to its creator. We won’t consider this graffiti nor street art but vandalism. We want to claim that urban art is creative, is constructive, it requires great skills and has its aim in the audience.
Urban art has its essence in using murals or walls from any city as a medium for its creations. But as we consider the subject or technique of the work, we can talk about one or other type of street art.
Considering the subject
Also known as graffiti tagging, it is the origin of street art. In the 60s Darryl McCray made the first painting using his alias Cornbread to win the love of a girl filling the city of Philadelphia with a sentence that said "Cornbread loves Cynthia". He finally got the girl and also drew the attention of the press, so he decided to continue stamping his name and created a trend. He was the first, but since then graffiti has greatly evolved. Current artists explore the signature development, in shape and colour and because of that, they deserve our attention. The biggest Banksy's public "enemy", King Robbo, is a clear example of graffiti tagging. English Ben Eine, has developed this graffiti style to a point where his work is focused in a font created by the artist, and studies it according to the letters composition in different colours, shades and shapes.
Many are the artists that have caused controversy and stir through their works. Well known is the case of Banksy who has become the maximum standard of this style. But this is not something new; artists like Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring showed their critique to racism and homophobia in the streets of New York. The Berlin Wall, while it was standing, became a canvas on which to fight against the Cold War. Blek le Rat, considered the father of stencil graffiti, is another example of an artist who uses street art for social criticism. In fact Banksy himself acknowledges the influence of this artist: "every time I think I've done something minimally original I find out that Blek le Rat has done the same, only 20 years before." Also well known for his activism is the artist Shepard Fairey, whom express in his works his dissent towards environmental issues, his concerns about the violation of human rights or shows his support for public figures in situations of injustice like Ai Weiwei or Aung San Suu Kyi.
Many urban artists create their works to express their emotions and transmit them to the viewer. These don't have a direct message beyond the personal sense that each individual finds. The vast majority of these artworks are located in abandoned and decaying spaces and thanks to them this places come back to life and recover a meaning. For example, the Norwegian artist Martin Whatson has a predilection for these spaces and we can certainly say that his work gets back the beauty that those lost in time. Artists like Snik seek large murals to create larger works that definitely beautify the urban landscape.
Abstraction has its place in the urban art. Artists like José Parlá or Smash137 already have a great appreciation among art collectors and their work has been exhibited in major galleries. Calligraphy and spray paint derive in strokes, lines and shapes that intertwine with the medium.
The signature and abstraction get fused in this type of works that seem to want to get out of the wall. The effect produced by the work of artists like Daim and Peeta is truly amazing. With impressive skills in the use of spray, they create shapes, colours and shades that deceive our eyes, achieving a spectacular optical effect.
Considering the media
As mentioned above, Blek le Rat was the first to use templates to capture his creations on the streets of Paris. Since this is an illegal act, perhaps to avoid being caught by the authorities, this technique grew out of the necessity. The work is prepared in advance and once chosen the site, the artist just has to spray it into the medium with the use of templates. Artists like Banksy, Shepard Fairey and Mr. Brainwash are now the most popular. Other artists such as Martin Whatson or Snik use this technique and then add their own hand-finishing. The artist Roamcouch leads this technique to the limit and his works require a large number of templates that, once overlapped, create an extremely detailed and elaborated image.
Basically the artist previously creates stickers that are then placed in different parts of the city. The term refers to a "bombardment" precisely because the artist does not purport to capture a single image but seeks to "invade" the city with a large number of them. This ensures to draw attention as if it was a marketing campaign. Most artists who use this technique do it to make themselves known and gain notoriety. Shepard Fairey himself achieved much of his fame by sticking images of Andre the Giant in many cities of the United States.
In this case, with the help of a chisel or a similar instrument the artist rips out the material in the wall to create the image. Portuguese artist Vhils or Madrid based group Boa Mistura are good examples of the use of this technique.
It is increasingly common to see in some cities discordant elements in street furniture. This is not vandalism, these are installations that artists like the Madrilenian SpY have set in front of our eyes. Sometimes they simply modify street furniture and other times the just add elements that baffle us. This is definitely a good way to get to the most observant citizen.
Recovering the art of Ancient Rome artists such as the French Invader have created their work from small slabs that combined together make up an image.
Regarding the technique, this method is based in the free use of spray paint so the artist just plays with his or her own skills to create the work.
Most of these urban artists have released their own prints. Using this media they have reached an even wider audience and there are many that own limited edition serigraphs and lithographs and enjoy them in their homes. It is not necessary to live in Los Angeles to see the work of Mr. Brainwash, visiting Paris to be surprised by Invader mosaics or going to Norway to enjoy Whatson's creations. We can acquire printed work by these artists, for example, at Artetrama.
]]>Some of these artists got their training at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando. Here we review some of the most important historical moments of this academy.
It opened in 1752 during the reign of Ferdinand VI in order to change the way of teaching that the visual arts had so far. With the creation of this academy, the training received by the students would be more accessible and would leave aside the learning at workshop. At the beginning, it was regulated the teaching for painting, sculpture, architecture and engraving. Just over a century later, music would join these disciplines. The reform of 1987 incorporated television, photography, video and film sections.
Although the school was opened by three Italian artists, now it has 56 academicians of number. These personalities are honoured to have this title for having recognized prestige in their field.
This school has had many important artists learning in its rooms, but perhaps one of the most controversial one would be a young Dalí that attended his studies by the early 20s. During his school years he met with other future stars of contemporary Spanish painters such as Benjamin Palencia, Rafael Zabaleta and Julio Romero de Torres. His most important college would probably be painter Maruja Mallo, with whom he struck up a great friendship. Dalí, this colourful character with long hair and sideburns would establish more relationship with his fellow mates at the Students Residence in Madrid, the poet García Lorca and filmmaker Luis Buñuel were among them. We refer to a controversial Salvador Dalí because he was expelled from the academy twice. The first time was in 1923 for leading a student protest against not granting the chair to the painter Daniel Vázquez Díaz. In 1924 he resumed his studies repeating year, but just prior to his final exams in 1926, Dalí would definitely be expelled from the academy by declaring that there was no academic teacher with enough skills able to examine his work.
Benjamín Palencia, along with sculptor Alberto, founded the "Escuela de Vallecas", joined by some of his fellow students as well as other cultural figures of the time as Rafael Alberti or Pablo Neruda. Years later, some other artists would go through the academy and be part of the "Second School of Vallecas" such as Menchu Gal or Luis García-Ochoa.
The famous group "El Paso" wouldn’t have been the same if some of its members had not studied at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando. Luis Feito, Juana Francés and Martín Chirino studied together at the center and joined other artists such as Antonio Saura, Manolo Millares and Rafael Canogar to create this group that had such a relevance in Madrid’s art scene.
The realist painter Antonio Lopez and Lucio Muñoz, both belonging to the known as "Madrid school" also attended their studies of fine arts at the academy. Some years later Darío Villalba also would step in the classrooms of the center.
At the present many of these artists just mentioned are academics in the institution, some being more involved than others in the tasks developments corresponding to the management of the Royal Academy. But as we also mentioned earlier, academics are entitled based on their recognition and therefore not all of them have passed through the academy classrooms. Thus, in the honor table of recent years we can find artists of the stature of Joan Hernández-Pijuan, Martin Chirino, Antoni Tapies or Gustavo Torner . Currently Rafael Canogar, Luis Feito or Antonio Lopez are some of these academic figures.
Please, don’t hesitate visiting the academy’s website for more info at: Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando (only in Spanish).
]]>More and more cities are joining this boom to be re-launched as a tourist destination, renew the city and promote the arts. Artists from various nationalities are concentrated in a few days to promote a common cultural project and exchange views and ideas.
All these artistic events have two common goals: recover forgotten spaces of the cities in which they celebrate and bring art to the public. These open-air museums, accessible to all, are to encourage and promote the cultural enrichment of the citizen.
Here we suggest some of the artistic events that we consider most important:
UPFEST - Bristol - United Kingdom
In the city where Banksy grew up, we find the biggest street art and graffiti festival that can be seen in Europe this year. More than 250 street artists from 25 countries will gather in this city to paint its walls in front of thousands of visitors. Since its inception in 2008, UpFest has progressed to become a major event where the audience can not only enjoy art, but also the music shows and workshops that the organization has scheduled. Artists such as Copyright, Otto Shade or Hush will be in this English city to participate in the festival on 25, 26 and July 27.
Memorie Urbane – Gaeta – Italy
Without a doubt, one of our favourites. This festival, now in its fourth year, will host more than 40 artists; among them we can find Btoy, Ella & Pitr, Stein, Alias, David Walker, Ernest Zacharevic or David de la Mano. In addition, exhibitions will be organized simultaneously in some of the art galleries in town that will display the indoor works of some of these artists.
Nuart Festival - Stavanger – Norway
If there is a festival that Nordics have as standard, this is it. Held in Stavanger, it gets every year the most outstanding local and international artists together. Martin Whatson, Dot Dot Dot, Icy and Sot, Etam Cru, Ben Eine, Aiko, Vihls, Dolk, Nick Walker, D*Face, Hush, Tilt or Blek le Rat have left their mark in this city with their participation at the Nuart.
Mulafest – Madrid – Spain
Madrid hosts during the last weekend of June the biggest urban culture festival in the country. The most relevant and emerging local artists will participate in it. The graffiti art scene has special relevance and the organization have prepared some workshops, among which stand out the participatory mural by Ricardo Cavolo, an illustration contest and graffiti battles. Besides art, this festival features a number of sport contests, music shows, a street circus and other workshops as well as a sample of the latest technologies intended for the creative world.
Wool Fest – Lisbon – Portugal
Urban Art Festival Covilha – a city that once had numerous wool mills and hence the name- brings together the most international Portuguese artists such as Vhils, MaisMenos or Bordalo II. We do not know if during this 2015 this event will take place, as its organization is highly focused in developing activities to promote street art in various Portuguese cities.
Malta Street Art Festival – La Valetta – Malta
One more year, and this is the third one, this festival has become a symbol of the cultural summer in La Valletta. Malta joins the youngest creative explosion and will gather in late July many urban artists from Italy, Germany, Australia or Portugal.
ST-Art Delhi – New Delhi – India
The Indian capital turns to a cultural platform where international artists like Aiko, Okuda or Axel Void will have the opportunity to express their talents on the city’s murals. The festival is complemented by installations, markets, workshops and conferences.
Living Walls – Atlanta – US
It is not a festival itself, but a project created in Atlanta, which has two major events: "The conference" and "The concept". The first is an annual meeting which seeks to discuss about urban art and urbanism, opening a constructive dialogue for the resident community in this city. With "The concept" the Living Walls’s organization schedules several meetings throughout the year, focused on one or two artists at a time. Ernest Zacharevic, Borondo, Moneyless or Hyuro have already participated in this project.
MURAL Festival – Montreal – Canada
Montreal is in a moment of artistic expansion. MURAL proposes an open air event where local and international artists meet, accompanied by seminars, installations and a surprising cuisine. Definitely, a good plan for the first half of June.
POW! WOW! Hawaii – Honolulu - USA
This Caribbean island hosts the greatest art festival that counts not only with the attendance of artists but also galleries, publishing houses, magazines, experts and companies related to the world of street art. Maya Hayuk, D * Face or Jeff Soto are some of the artists participating in this festival, where a variety of concerts, exhibitions, conferences, workshops and facilities also take place.
SPECTRUM STREET ART FESTIVAL - Christchurch - New Zealand
Renowned artists such as Cope2 or Tilt, along with a wide range of local artists, will participate it this meeting. All of them will be in charge of showing their works on large murals with graffiti, paste-up or installations. This festival follows in the footsteps of its predecessor, the RISE festival, held last year in the Canterbury Museum, which broke attendance records. In addition, the Spectrum showcases a large exhibition of Banksy’s works with such iconic images as "Flower Thrower", "Trolley hunters", "Kids on guns" or "Kate Moss".
PUBLIC – Perth – Australia
Public is presented as a symposium, that meets art, technology, architecture and urbanism experts. Thus, more than 50 urban artists will share their ideas with other participants from different disciplines. It is intended to open a debate about the various needs that arise in communities as these are transformed and renewed.
]]>Regarding climate, it is more appropriate a cold environment and not too damp to prevent the growth of microorganisms such as fungi or bacteria and also to prevent structural deterioration of the paper. The best conditions would be at about 60% relative humidity and 20°C temperature. It is important that these conditions change as least as possible, since high fluctuations can cause ripples on the paper. Other environmental factors such as pollution or greenhouse gases can also cause damage to the paper, so it is very important a good framing or storage.
On the other hand, we must take care of the light that falls directly on our works. An excess of luminosity excess can cause discoloration of pigments and oxidation of the paper. As for artificial light, it should be avoided a direct incidence of UV light sources such as halogen bulbs and fluorescent tubes, however there is no danger in using tungsten bulbs.
Another factor to consider is the acidity. When there is an excess of light or humidity, certain acid elements and lignins that belong to the composition of the paper itself can cause oxidation. To prevent excess acidity it is essential that all elements that may come in contact with the paper, framed or stored, have a neutral pH. While framing, sealing must be perfect to avoid damages caused by environmental factors and the glass should never touch the artwork since, with time, it could end up sticked to it. Storage should be done using alkaline rigid folders and avoiding excessive weight on them so the pressure won't cause any damage. Regarding the manipulation of the work it is best to use cotton gloves to avoid oily spots that can turn out yellowing the paper over time.
Keeping in mind these factors we will ensure an optimal preservation of our print collection over the years.
]]>To understand the origins that led to this formation we must first understand what the situation of Spanish society was in the late 50s. Many years had gone by since the Civil War had ended, and the Franco dictatorship was ruling the country. But until the early 50's Spain was still under an international isolation, as the state was related in its policies to the "axis of evil" during World War II. This led Spain to an autarky that was over thanks to an alliance with the United States against the Soviet Union. Spain had a key geographical location and thus, it was a strategic point during the Cold War.
In the late 50s Spain began to see glimpses of an unremarkable economic recovery for a underclass still too broad.
Within the cultural scene, it was a time of emptiness because many galleries had closed and most of the dealers and collectors seemed to have disappeared. The political and social crisis had left the world of culture standing by and without public activity.
No wonder that some young artists, tired of this situation of cultural poverty, joined to reinvigorate it. These creators, coming from different parts of Spain and each with his particular style, had the same vindictive awareness and need to fight to propel the evolution of Spanish plastic.
And so, in 1957, El Paso; was formed. The artists Antonio Saura, Manuel Rivera, Rafael Canogar, Juana Francés, Manuel Chirino, Luis Feito, Manuel Millares and Pablo Serrano, along with art critics and artists Manuel Conde and José Ayllón signed a manifesto that defined their activity. Shortly thereafter Manuel Rivera joined the collective and the following year, Manuel Viola.
Group members were committed to create an environment that allowed the creative development outside the formalisms established in the fine arts. While most of these artists focused on abstraction, they all rejected the labels imposed and the use of terms such as conceptual, constructivism, expressionism... they believed in free creation and research without borders.
Thus, the Spanish avant-garde art became synonymous of unconformity, break through and rebellion. These concerns were reflected by these artists through their works, whose common nexus between them was the importance of the gesture and the stroke and the voluntary reduction of the usage of colours to a minimum. It is also important to note that for this group the historical value of the country was critic and they all raised a remodelling of the art scene based in tradition. This way, we can see how rough materials such as iron, burlap, chicken wire, sand or paint impasto reflect despair, aggression or loneliness, the heritage of Goya's darkest Spain.
El Paso had only three years of existence, however, it was prolific and international as few Spanish groups have been in history. While its informality was the point of attachment, they never made an explicit critique of the political regime and, since they didn't posed a threat to the government, they became the great ambassadors of the Spanish culture of the moment.
In its first year of existence the artists held many exhibitions in the country, the first one happened to be in the gallery-bookshop Buchholz in Madrid and this summer Millares and Rivera assisted at the Fourth Biennial of Sao Paulo Feito, on behalf of the group. There, Jorge Oteiza obtains the Critics Award for Best sculptor and it is confirmed that the Spanish art is fashionable. So much it is, that the New York MOMA acquires various works of these artists. At the end of 1957 Suárez, Francés, Rivera and Serrano leave the group.
During the next two years until its dissolution numerous exhibitions in museums and galleries, lectures and writings would boost Spanish art, both nationally and internationally. After an intense activity and 15 signed letters, El Paso decided to put an end to its existence in May 1960.
Like many artists of the time, the components of El Paso developed their creativity blindly at a time when the transition to modernity seemed to never come. Like other artists of the informalism, they served as a bridge between tradition and the new trends of the radical avant-garde. But this not only occurred in Spain. The capital of the vanguard was in Paris and American abstract expressionism enjoyed its best. Members of El Paso not only revolutionized the sector and propelled it, but also opened the minds of the Spanish society arousing their interest by international artists such as Mark Rothko, Willem de Kooning, Franz Kline or Robert Motherwell.
]]>What is an agamograph? Well, as a start, it is important to know and understand the main characteristics of Yaacov Agam's art. His work is influenced by Judaism and as it happens in this iconoclastic religion, Agam has never shown figurative motifs in his works and, since his beginnings in the fine arts he's always been an abstract artist. Another particular feature in Agam's art is the use of colours, whose study and usage he learned at the Bauhaus. These colours stand out for being very vivid, brilliant and varied in all his creations. Once again, choosing the colours that appear in his works has a straight relationship with Jew religion since Yaacov Agam considers the rainbow as the first gift from God to mankind. In Hebrew, the name of Jehovah is Mehaveh Ou-Mithaveh, which means "constant change" and this is the key to understand Agams work, whose essence is depicting this concept.
Regarding Yaacov Agam, until mid-twentieth century, art was static. Taking a look at a picture we can see, in some way, the past because nothing has changed since the artist decided the work was finished. Having this idea in mind, Agam tried to introduce in the middle 50s, time as another factor to consider in the process of creation, and thus he invented the agamograph.
Time cannot be repeated nor be predicted and because of that, when we observe an agamograph we cannot see the same image from different points of view. Each time we move the artwork is transformed. The artist invites us to think that it is not possible to see the totality of his work without moving and interacting with it in space and time.
How does an agamograph work? We'll explain how the most basic one does. We have a surface, paper for example, and we fold it parallel to one of its sides many times in a way that once it is stretched its appearance is a zigzag like an accordion. If we add to each one of the parallel sides of this zigzag the correspondent part of an image and we do it as well with other parallel sides of the zigzag adding different image, the overall has as result a work that once viewed from an angle shows one of the images and viewed from the opposite angle shows the other one. The biggest example of this work can be found on the facade of the Callahan Eye Foundation Hospital in Birmingham, Alabama.
Lenticular technology basis
A lenticular screen
Regarding Agam's graphic works, he has used lenticular technology to create his limited edition agamograph series. This technology works with the same basis as what was explained above but, in this case, the multiple images are fused and shown directly on the paper printed with lithographic media, and it is the lenticular screen that covers the work the one in charge of creating the visual effect that allows us to only view one different image depending on the angle where we stand.
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