...AND AGAIN... ...AND AGAIN... ...AND AGAIN... ...AND AGAIN... ...AND AGAIN...
...AND AGAIN... EXHIBITION: 3RD - 26TH JULY 2013
sims reed gallery The Economist Building 30 Bury Street London SW1Y 6AU Tel. +44 (0) 207 930 5111 Fax +44 (0) 207 930 1555 gallery@simsreed.com www.gallery.simsreed.com
…And Again... Repet it ion, Variat ion, Evolution.
It is easy to find parallels between the inherent repetitiveness of mass production and the increasing interest in repetition that began to occur in art after the Second World War. As industrial technologies swiftly developed, it became possible to cheaply, easily, and exactly reproduce images and objects. The western world was soon awash with consumer goods and bombarded with advertisements promoting them. Artists soon began to consider the formal and conceptual uses of repetition in their own work and these investigations into series and repetition continue today. Conceptually and practically, printmaking is an obvious and effective medium for exploring these ideas.
…And Again... brings together various series of graphic work, each showing how artists have used printmaking to engage in the many possibilities of repetitive motifs and ideas. We have included several series or pairings that show how a single subject, form or compositional device can be presented repetitively, but with hugely varying results. In each case, artists have made different and deliberate choices about colour, size, subject, orientation, and medium to create works that are wholly different, though ostensibly depicting the same thing.
The methodology of repetition and reproduction were crucial to the conceptual basis of Pop Art. It was perhaps this group of artists who explored and celebrated these ideas most fully. The use of repetition as an artistic device was fundamental to Andy Warhol - his endless permutations of subjects such as Marilyn Monroe and Campbell's Soup have come to define his unique visual language. We have included six works from Warhol’s Flowers portfolio, executed in 1970. In each version, he has chosen totally disparate palettes – sometimes using colours that look like an actual flower and in other cases creating jarring combinations, impossible in nature. Another example from the 1960’s is Robert Indiana’s experiments with colour using his classic LOVE motif. The composition was first conceived in primary colours for the MOMA’s 1965 Christmas Card. However, it soon formed the basis for several experiments with variant colourways – four of which are included in this show. Japanese Pop Artist Takashi Murakami and Yayoi Kusama have both continued these experiments with repetition and colour, as the two series by them included here demonstrate. Murakami even takes on the same flower motif as Warhol, but makes the subject into his own stylised and playful version.
Beyond Pop Art, many other artists have used series and repetition in their graphic work, but in the service of a very different conceptual and formal agenda. The serial nature of printmaking, combined with its ability to render clean lines and flat colours has made it particularly appropriate for artists working with a more abstract or minimalist approach. Donald Judd, Sol Lewitt, Bridget Riley, and most recently Anish Kapoor have all used repetition as a pure investigation of colour and form. The refined and controlled nature of this work has created series that are very different from the Pop Artists, though share an interest in repetition and the choice of printmaking to execute these ideas. Judd and Lewitt engaged with repetition using a strict, systematic approach. They both created several print series that move through subtle, carefully considered changes to a single idea or form. In his Shadows III series, Kapoor uses the same form, but in a spectrum of deeply saturated colours that gradually dissolve into a white void. Each colour resonates differently and viewed together they create a dazzling effect. Riley condenses these ideas into two works – Slivered 2 and RA 2. In this pair of screenprints, she repeats the same number and shape of each coloured line. However, she combines these individual elements in variant patterns, creating two completely different pictures from identical elements. 4
Another example of variation within the confines of a single series is the repeating compositional elements in Michael Craig-Martin’s Folio from 2004. This series depicts everyday objects, juxtaposed in seemingly arbitrary combinations. Though the objects themselves change from one plate to the next, the formal aspects of each composition remain the same. The repetition of vibrant colours as well as the size and placement of his hard-edged drawings, create a rhythmic consistency throughout the series. An opposite approach is seen in Glenn Ligon’s Dispatches. In this series, the fragmented, floating letters remain the same but their number and composition shift from one plate to the next, together forming a group of mysterious, illegible texts. Variation within a single series can also manifest as a means of exploring a theme or subject, which repeat throughout though the means of depiction change. Hockney’s Dog Wall is a group of etched portraits of his pet dachshunds, drawn in spontaneous and charming poses. Together, these fifteen images create a fluid portrait of the animals rather then presenting them in a single, static pose. Warhol was working in a similar vain in his series 25 Cats Named Sam and One Blue Pussy, purported to be portraits of the endless stray cats his mother adopted, all of whom she named Sam.
We have included two other series by David Hockney, a keen printmaker who has often utilised repetition in his graphic work. The two large format flower pieces from 1973 – Flowers Made of Paper and Black Ink and Coloured Flowers Made of Paper and Ink show the stark difference between a monochrome and polychrome lithograph. This experiment in printmaking is laid bare in the title of the two works, which directly reference the different techniques. Hockney also used a repetitive process in his Lithographic Water Made of Lines series. In this ambitious project, he began with basic lithographic lines to draw water in a swimming pool. He continues through the series, progressively adding thicker lines and a variety of washes to build the subtleties of light, colour and form. The end result is the same swimming pool he began with but fully formed and with rich, saturated colours.
In the Bull Profile Series from 1973, Roy Lichtenstein used progression to the opposite effect of Hockney’s pools. Rather then using repetition to build an image, Lichtenstein deconstructs the subject. Beginning with a realistic image of a bull, he then moves through a series of six progressive states, gradually deconstructing the subject until we are left with a purely abstracted form. Picasso was the first to do this, with his Bull lithograph series from 1945. Lichtenstein was clearly looking at Picasso’s lithographs but putting the Pop idiom in service of this experiment in abstraction.
Mel Bochner’s Blah Blah Blah monprints, combine the disparate notions of repetition and uniqueness. The banal text we see over and over – ‘Blah Blah Blah’ – but each time used to create a completely unique object. The limitless amalgamation of Bochner’s vast palette, combined with the organic and somewhat unpredictable nature of handmade paper and thick, viscous paints, make each monoprint totally unique.
Repetition can function as both a conceptual conceit as well as a formal artistic device. The serial nature of printmaking allows artists a valuable and effective means to explore these possibilities. The works included here are chosen not only to show the potential of pure repetition, but also the variation within that unity, and the evolution of images and ideas that grows from it. By repeating themselves in some way, these artist have all been able to create something entirely new. - Lyndsey Ingram, Sims Reed Gallery. 3
Mel Bochner ‘Blah Blah Blah’ Monoprint with collage, engraving and embossment on hand-dyed Twinrocker handmade paper, 2013. Signed in pencil. Published by Two Palms, New York. 77.5 x 63.5 cm 6
Mel Boc hner ‘Blah Blah Blah’ Monoprint with collage, engraving and embossment on hand-dyed Twinrocker handmade paper, 2013. Signed in pencil. Published by Two Palms, New York. 77.5 x 63.5 cm 7
Michael Cr aig-Mar tin ‘Folio’ The complete portfolio of 12 screenprints in colours, 2004. Each signed in pencil, verso, and numbered from the edition of 40. Printed by Advanced Graphics, London. Published by Alan Cristea Gallery, London. Each sheet: 33 x 100 cm “I thought the objects we value least because they were ubiquitous were actually the most extraordinary." - Michael Craig-Martin Images courtesy Alan Cristea Gallery, London © Michael Craig-Martin and Alan Cristea Gallery. Images cannot be reproduced without the prior permission of the copyright holder. Images must be fully credited and not cropped or altered in any way. 8
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David Hockn ey ‘Coloured Flowers Made of Paper and Ink’ Lithograph printed in colours, 1971. Signed in pencil and numbered from the edition of 50. Printed on wove paper by Cook Hammond, and Kell, London. Published by Petersburg Press, London. (Scottish Arts Council 119; Tokyo 113) 99.1 x 95.3 cm 10
David Hoc kney ‘Flowers Made of Paper and Black Ink’ Lithograph printed in colours, 1971. Signed in pencil and numbered from the edition of 50. Printed on wove paper by Cook Hammond, and Kell, London. Published by Petersburg Press, London. (Scottish Arts Council 120; Tokyo 114) 99.1 x 95.3 cm 11
David Hockney Lit hogr aphic Pools, clockw ise: ‘Lithographic Water Made of Lines’ Lithograph printed in colour, 1978-1980. Signed in pencil, and numbered from the edition of 42. 74 x 86.4 cm ‘Lithographic Water Made of Lines and Crayon’ Lithograph printed in colours, 1978-80. Signed in pencil, and inscribed AP VIII. An artist’s proof, aside from the edition of 42. 73.9 x 86.2 cm ‘Lithographic Water Made of Lines, Crayon, and a Blue Wash’ Lithograph printed in colours, 1978-80. Signed in pencil, and inscribed AP IX. An artist’s proof aside from the edition of 48. 74.8 x 86.9 cm ‘Lithographic Water Made of Lines, Crayon, and Two Blue Washes’ Lithograph printed in colours, 1978-80. Signed in pencil, and numbered from the edition of 85. 75.5 x 87.4 cm
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David Hockney ‘Dog Wall’ The complete series of 15 etchings, 1998. Each signed in pencil and numbered from the edition of 35. Printed on Somerset wove paper. Published by the artist. Various sheet sizes. “These two dear little creatures are my friends. They are intelligent, loving, comical and often bored. They watch me work; I notice the warm shapes they make together, their sadness and their delights.” - David Hockney 14
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Dami en Hir st Left: ‘Lime Green Racing Green Skull’; Right: ‘Loganberry Pink Oriental Gold Skull’ From ‘The Dead’ Two colour foil block prints, 2009. Each signed in pencil and numbered from the edition of 15. Printed on Arches 88 300 gsm archival paper. Published by Paul Stolper and Other Criteria, London. Each sheet: 71 x 50.8 cm
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Rober t Indian a ‘Love’ (From: ‘The Book of Love’) Screenprint in colours, 1996. Each signed in pencil and numbered from the edition of 200. Printed on wove paper. Each sheet: 61.5 x 51.5 cm
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Donald Ju dd ‘Untitled’ The complete set of 10 woodcuts printed in cadmium red, 1988. Each signed in pencil, verso, and numbered from the edition of 25. Printed by Derrier l’Etoile Studios, New York. Published by B. Alexander Editions, New York. (Schellmann 157-166) Each sheet: 60 x 80 cm
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Anish K apoor ‘Shadows III’ The complete set of 9 etchings printed in colours, 2009. Each signed in pencil and numbered from the edition of 39. Printed on 300gsm Somerset paper. Published by the Paragon Press, London. Each sheet: 72.4 x 96 cm
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Alex K atz ‘Brisk Day’ The complete set of 3 prints, 1990. From left to right: aquatint, woodcut and lithograph, each printed in colours. Each signed in pencil and numbered from the edition of 150. Each sheet: 90 x 72 cm
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Yayoi Kusama ‘Fruit Basket I, II & III’ Screenprint in colours with Lame, 1999. Each signed in pencil and numbered from the edition of 60. Printed on Kakita-shi paper by Okabe Tokuzo. Each sheet: 60 x 68 cm
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Sol Lewitt ‘Four-Part Combination of Six Geometric Figures in Four Colors’ The complete set of 4 woodcuts printed in colours, 1980. Each signed in pencil and numbered from the edition of 40. Printed on handmade Japanese Echizen-Kizuki Hosho paper by Adachi, Japan. Published by Galerie Watari, Tokyo. (Krakow 1980.08) Each sheet: 21.9 x 47 cm
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Roy Lichtenstein ‘Bull Profile Series’ The complete portfolio of 6 line-cut, lithograph, and screenprints, 1973. Each signed in pencil and numbered from the edition of 100. Printed on Arjomari paper by Gemini GEL, California. Published by Gemini GEL with their blindstamp. (Corlett 116-121) Each sheet: 68.6 x 88.9 cm
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Glenn Li gon ‘Dispatches’ The complete series of 4 aquatints with spit-bite and drypoint, 2011. Each signed in pencil and numbered from the edition of 18. Printed on Hahnemuhle copperplate bright white 300 gsm paper. Published by Ridinghouse Editions, London. Each sheet: 64.8 x 52.1 cm
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Takashi Mur akami Clockwise: ‘An Homage to IKB’; ‘An Homage to Monogold 1960 B’; ‘An Homage to Monopink 1960 B’ ‘An Homage to Yves Klein, Multicolour B’; Lithograph printed in colours, 2011. Each signed in ink and numbered from the edition of 300. Each sheet: 73.6 x 52.9 cm
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Edu ar do Paolozzi ‘Zero Energy Experiment Pile (Z.E.E.P.)’ The complete portfolio of 6 lithograph and screenprints in colours, 1969-1970. Each signed in black ink and numbered from the edition of 100. Printed on Astralaux and Plexiglass by Advanced Graphics, London. Published by Petersburg Press, London. (Miles 62) Each sheet: 84 x 60 cm
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Bri dget Riley ‘Silvered 2’ Screenprint in colours, 1981. Signed in pencil and numbered from the edition of 75. Printed by Sally Gimson at Artizan Editions, Hove. (Schubert 29) 106.6 x 93.2 cm
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Bridget Riley ‘RA 2’ Screenprint in colours, 1981. Signed in pencil and numbered from the edition of 75. Printed by Sally Gimson at Artizan Editions, Hove. (Schubert 28) 106.6 x 93.2 cm
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Andy Warhol ‘Flowers’ From the series of 10 screenprints in colours, 1970. Each signed in ball-point pen verso and numbered from the edition of 250. Printed by Aetna Silkscreen Products Inc., New York. Published by Factory Editions, New York. Clockwise: Feldman & Schellmann II.71, 67, 68, 73, 70, 66. Each sheet: 91.4 x 91.4 cm “Isn’t life a series of images that change as they repeat themselves?” - Andy Warhol
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Andy Warhol ‘25 Cats Named Sam and One Blue Pussy’ The complete series of 17 lithographs, with extensive watercolour applied by hand, c. 1954. Signed in ball-point pen on the colophon and numbered from the edition of 190. Printed by Seymour, Berlin. Published by the artist. (See Feldman & Schellmann IV 52A - 68A) Each sheet: 22.8 x 14.8 cm
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Printed by Dayfold 2013
sims reed gallery The Economist Building 30 Bury Street London SW1Y 6AU Tel. +44 (0) 207 930 5111 Fax +44 (0) 207 930 1555 gallery@simsreed.com www.gallery.simsreed.com