Austin on Paper by West Chelsea Contemporary

Ai WeiWei, Zodiac (From Papercut Portfolio), 2019

Cey Adams / Ai WeiWei / Lavett Ballard / The Connor Brothers / Sofia Cianciulli / Chuck Close / Salvador Dali / Roberto Dutesco / Bob Gruen / Gary Lichtenstein / Damien Hirst / Robert Indiana / David LaChapelle / Robert Longo / Harland Miller / Vik Muniz / Robert Rauschenberg / James Rosenquist / Ed Ruscha / Vee Speers / Frank Stella / Swoon / Yue Minjun / Lisa Yuskavage / Andy Warhol / Zao Wou-Ki / Zhang Xiaogang / + More

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WEST CHELSEA CONTEMPORARY

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INDEX FOREWORD .................................................................................................................................................. 1 - 6 CEY ADAMS.................................................................................................................................................. 7 - 8 AI WEIWEI....................................................................................................................................................... 9 - 10 LAVETT BALLARD..................................................................................................................................... 11 - 12 THE CONNOR BROTHERS..................................................................................................................... 13 - 14 CHUCK CLOSE............................................................................................................................................. 15 - 16 SOFIA CIANCIULLI...................................................................................................................................... 17 - 18 SALVADOR DALI........................................................................................................................................ 19 - 20 ROBERTO DUTESCO................................................................................................................................ 21 - 22 BOB GRUEN................................................................................................................................................... 23 - 24 GARY LICHTENSTEIN EDITIONS........................................................................................................ 25 - 26 DAMIEN HIRST............................................................................................................................................. 27 - 28 ROBERT INDIANA....................................................................................................................................... 29 - 30 DAVID LACHAPELLE................................................................................................................................ 31 - 32 ROBERT LONGO......................................................................................................................................... 33 - 34 HARLAND MILLER..................................................................................................................................... 35 - 36 VIK MUNIZ...................................................................................................................................................... 37 - 38 ROBERT RAUSCHENBERG................................................................................................................... 39 - 40 JAMES ROSENQUIST.............................................................................................................................. 41 - 42 ED RUSCHA................................................................................................................................................... 43 - 44 VEE SPEERS.................................................................................................................................................. 45 - 46 FRANK STELLA........................................................................................................................................... 47 - 48 SWOON............................................................................................................................................................ 49 - 50 YUE MINJUN.................................................................................................................................................. 51 - 52 LISA YUSKAVAGE..................................................................................................................................... 53 - 54 ANDY WARHOL.......................................................................................................................................... 55 - 56 ZAO WOU-KI................................................................................................................................................. 57 - 58 ZHANG XIAOGANG................................................................................................................................... 59 - 60 ON THE WALL.............................................................................................................................................. 61 - 62 PAPER GLOSSARY.................................................................................................................................... 63 - 72

Foreword West Chelsea Contemporary is proud to present Austin on Paper, featuring over two dozen modern and contemporary artists from across its collection creating paper-based art. This medium-driven exhibition explores the many ways in which paper is utilized from screenprinting, etching, and papercut to mixed-media collage and photography. Exhibiting alongside the PrintAustin Expo, Austin on Paper illuminates the varied and intricate nature of paper-based artwork while exploring its historical and experimental use over the 20th and 21st centuries. While typically WCC curates and displays artworks by theme and artistic movement, this exhibition situates works throughout the gallery while keeping technique and medium at the forefront. By considering material process rather than subject matter, works that are not often displayed together offer new discoveries and unique relationships. With the material of paper connecting works

from

disparate

geographies,

time

periods,

and

movements, this exhibition aims to encourage education on types of technique while inspiring consideration for the varied methods of artmaking and their distinct visual impact.

Paper—whether employed through printmaking or used as the sole vehicle for creation—is a historic medium that continues to be reinvented and reimagined. Screenprinting or silkscreen printing was originally used for commercial purposes in the early twentieth century and popularized in its use for fine art in the 1950s by Pop artists such as Andy Warhol. Today, it remains a dominant mode of printmaking and is favored for its graphic

style

and

accessibility.

Master

printer

Gary

Lichtenstein has worked with numerous artists from Rock and Roll Photographer Bob Gruen to Pop Art Icon Robert Indiana, using the silkscreen process to translate the artist's initial design or photograph into a distinct new work of art. Additionally, contemporary artist Harland Miller uses silkscreen printing to create large-format editions of his painterly and sardonic paintings of book covers. Another printmaking technique commonly regarded as the most difficult method to learn and master is lithography. This mode involves drawing with an oil-based implement onto a smooth stone or slab of aluminum that is then run through a press. Its invention allowed for a much wider range of marks and areas of tone than possible with earlier printmaking methods.

These tonalities are evident in the smooth gradients of Zhang Xiaogang’s portraits and in the shadows of Yue Minjun’s figures. Lithography allows for the overprinting of colors onto the same sheet; the inks used can be fully transparent resulting in a blending of colors as seen in Lisa Yuskavage’s multicolored surrealist scenes. Renowned surrealist Salvador Dalí created nearly 200 etchings throughout the 1960s and 70s which he then adorned by hand with colored ink. The printmaking process of etching involves incising a wax-coated metal plate with a sharp tool which is then inked and transferred to paper. Dalí’s masterful etchings highlight the varied nature of the technique's effects with thin fluid lines that can range from graceful and serpentine to tight and abrasive. In some of these works, Dalí experimented with using rubies and diamonds as engraving tools, a technique that lent an incomparable delicacy to the design. The Chinese postwar artist Zao Wou-Ki uses the traditional etching technique coupled with Aquatint to achieve a seamless blend of detailed markings and broad gestural tonal effects. Arguably

the

most

popular

medium

contemporary

art,

photography’s use of paper is relatively new when compared to the tradition of lithography and etching.

Wildlife photographs by internationally acclaimed artist Roberto Dutesco document the wild horses of the isolated and uninhabited Sable Island. Contemporary portrait photography is explored by Vee Speers and Sofia Cianciulli to evoke emotion and blur the lines between fantasy and reality. Mixed-media artist Vik Muniz uses photography to preserve his ephemeral assemblages recreating historical artworks from unusual materials—ranging from powdered pigment to miniature toys. Similarly, Robert Longo uses photography as a means of capturing his large-scale hyper-realistic charcoal drawings that consider power, authority, and the natural world. Through photography each of these artists flattens their observed environment, transforming the three-dimensional into two. Collage, papercut, and painting on paper all directly manipulate the paper support. Fragments of both found and handmade paper are incorporated into the collage works of Cey Adams who mines vintage ephemera from the twentieth century to explore the American fascination with branding and symbolism. Lavett Ballard incorporates collaged photographs to create re-imagined visual narratives of Black women. Because collage often incorporates mass-produced images, the practice is often inseparable from its historical and political context, making it a mode of powerful social commentary.

American masters James Rosenquist and Frank Stella both incorporate additional printmaking techniques, such as lithographs and screenprints, which they then collage together to create tactile works that invite viewers to consider the intimacy of the collage process. Dissident

artist

WeiWei

explores

links

between

the

contemporary world and traditional Chinese culture by employing the Chinese art of papercutting. The artist’s Papercut Portfolio features a limited edition of eight works that reflect on his own life through meticulously cut large-format works. Contemporary artists The Connor Brothers combine printmaking techniques with painting on paper to create texturally rich pin-up style portraits of women with blocks of solid color and deadpan snippets of text. Through this exhibition and within both avenues–prints and original works on paper–the viewer is encouraged to consider process first. Printmaking as a discipline relies heavily on the relationship between the printer, the publisher, and the artist. It creates an alternate value proposition as it introduces the viewer to a new artist,

the

printmaker,

through

the

collaborative

endeavor.

Alternatively, original works on paper afford artists another chance to investigate the canon of their work whether through collage, papercut, or painting. Austin on Paper engages the viewer in a discussion of process while educating on the varied techniques employed. 6

Adams, Cey American, b.1962

New York City native Cey Adams emerged from the downtown graffiti movement to exhibit alongside fellow artists JeanMichel Basquiat and Keith Haring. He appeared in the historic 1982 PBS documentary Style Wars which tracks subway graffiti in New York. Cey’s work explores the relationship between transformation and discovery focusing on themes ranging from pop culture to race and gender relations. His practice involves dismantling various imagery and paper elements to build multiple layers of color, texture, shadow, and light. Cey draws inspiration from 60’s pop art, sign painting, comic books, and popular culture. As the Creative Director of hip hop mogul Russell Simmons’ Def Jam Recordings, he cofounded the Drawing Board, the label’s in-house visual design firm, where he created visual identities, album covers, logos, and advertising campaigns for Run DMC, Beastie Boys, LL Cool J, Public Enemy, Notorious B.I.G., and Jay-Z. He exhibits, lectures and teaches art workshops at institutions including: MoMA, Brooklyn Museum, Walker Art Center, and MoCA Los Angeles. 7

Cey Adams 1, 2020 Mixed media collage on paper 30 x 22 in

Cey Adams 2, 2020

Cey Adams 3, 2020

Mixed media collage on paper 30 x 22 in

Mixed media collage on paper 30 x 22 in 8

Weiwei

Chinese, b. 1957

A cultural figure of international renown, Ai Weiwei is an activist, architect, curator, filmmaker, and China’s most famous artist. Open in his criticism of the Chinese government, Ai was famously detained for months in 2011, then released to house arrest. “I don’t see myself as a dissident artist,” he says. “I see them as a dissident government!” Some of Ai’s best known works are installations, often tending towards the conceptual and sparking dialogue between the contemporary world and traditional Chinese modes of thought and production. For Sunflower Seeds (2010) at the Tate Modern, he scattered 100 million porcelain “seeds” handpainted by 1,600 Chinese artisans—a commentary on mass consumption and the loss of individuality. His infamous Coca Cola Vase (1994) is a Han Dynasty urn emblazoned with the ubiquitous soft-drink logo. Ai also served as artistic consultant on the design of the “Bird’s Nest” stadium for Beijing’s 2008 Olympics, and has curated pavilions and museum exhibitions around the globe.

Ai WeiWei Zodiac (From Papercut Portfolio), 2019 Papercut on colored fine art paper 23.60 x 23.60 in

Ai WeiWei Furniture (From Papercut Portfolio), 2019 Papercut on colored fine art paper 23.60 x 23.60 in 10

Ballard, Lavett American, b.1970

Lavett Ballard describes her work as a re-imagined visual narrative of people of African descent. Her use of imagery reflects social issues affecting primarily Black women’s stories within a historical context. Her current body of work uses collaged photos adorned with paint, oil pastels, and metallic foils. These photos are deconstructed and layered on reclaimed wood fences; the use of fences is a symbolic reference to how fences keep people in and out physically, just as racial and gender identities do so socially. The fusion of wood and photography offers artwork that both explores Ballard’s southern roots, as well as visually speaks volumes to continuing themes within her community. Ballard's artwork has been featured on the cover of TIME Magazine, selected for the “100 Women of the Year” edition in 2020. Named by Black Art in America as one of the Top 10 Female Emerging Artists to Collect, Ballard has placed works in the private collections of the African American Museum of Philadelphia, the Colored Girls Museum, the Petrucci Family Foundation Collection, and the Grant and Tamia Hill Private Collections. 11

Lavett Ballard She Has Risen, 2020 Mixed media collage on reclaimed wood 68.50 x 31 in

THE CONNOR BROTHERS British, b. 1968

The Connor Brothers are known for their paintings and prints featuring vintage pin-up beauties and Old Hollywood starlets in seductive poses, paired with captions that exude a dry sense of humor. The Connor Brothers—a pseudonym for the British artists Mike Snelle and James Golding—initially retained anonymity under their fictional guise. They posed as fictional twin brothers Franklyn and Brendan Connor, who had escaped from a California cult (called “The Family”) by running away to Brooklyn at age 16 to become artists. Today, Snelling and Golding have shed their guise, and align their work with social causes such as the European refugee crisis.

The Connor Brothers There's Nothing So Seductive As A Dangerous Idea, 2019 Gicleé, screenprint, acrylic, oil paint, and varnish on paper 57.50 x 36 in

Cianciulli, Sofia

Italian, b.1993

Sofia Cianciulli is a multi-disciplinary body artist from Florence, Italy. Cianciulli grew up surrounded by Renaissance art history’s sexual connotations, and later was influenced by the individualism and diversity of New York feminism. After completing her MA in Fine Art and Central Saint Martins, Cianciulli was shortlisted for The Ingram Prize. Cianciulli combines painting, performance, digital media, and augmented reality to consider the female body in the postfeminist media age. Her work reflects upon the entangled and co-dependent nature of millennials and the internet, responding with absolute transparency to modern narrative conventions that are an inextricable part of her reality.

Sofia Cianciulli Digital Feelings I (/50), 2020 Digital Print on Canson rag photographique 310g Epson 46.90 x 33.10 in

Sofia Cianciulli Digital Feelings IV (/50), 2020 Digital Print on Canson rag photographique 310g Epson 46.90 x 33.10 in

CLose, Chuck American, 1940 - 2021

In the 1960s, Chuck Close pioneered Photorealism with his monumental, exquisitely detailed portraits, whose subjects he took from photographic sources. Playing with ideas of color, scale, and form, he later gained renown for gridded paintings that appear abstract from up close and highly realistic and pixelated from afar. Close has exhibited extensively since the ’60s and enjoyed solo shows at the Walker Art Center, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the State Hermitage Museum, and the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, among other institutions. He has featured in group exhibitions at the Venice Biennale and Documenta on multiple occasions. At auction, his work has sold for seven figures. Close has often depicted his family and friends, including fellow artists Robert Rauschenberg, Cindy Sherman, and Richard Serra. His work links him not only to other Photorealists such as Richard Estes and Audrey Flack, but also to the Conceptual art movement.

Chuck Close Roy Lichtenstein (PP/Aside Edition of 12), 1999 Digital inkjet prints on Somerset paper, four panels 92 x 69 in

Dali, Salvador Spanish, 1904–1989

Salvador Dalí was a leading proponent of Surrealism, the 20century avant-garde movement that sought to release the creative potential of the unconscious through strange, dream-like imagery. “Surrealism is destructive, but it destroys only what it considers to be shackles limiting our vision,” he said. Dalí is specially credited with the innovation of “paranoia-criticism,” a philosophy of art making he defined as “irrational understanding based on the interpretive-critical association of delirious phenomena.” In addition to meticulously painting fantastic compositions, such as The Accommodations of Desire (1929) and the melting clocks in his famed The Persistence of Memory (1931), Dalí was a prolific writer and early filmmaker, and cultivated an eccentric public persona with his flamboyant mustache, pet ocelot, and outlandish behavior and quips.

Salvador Dalí Mythology “Leda and the Swan XCVII/C” (97/100), 1964 Hand-colored drypoint etching 30 x 22 in

Dutesco, Roberto Romanian, b. 1961

Roberto Dutesco is a Canadian-born Romanian artist, best known for his photography projects that meld personal interest with environmental and natural subject matter. In his longest-running series, the artist documents the feral horses in Nova Scotia on Canada's Sable Island, capturing the animals in a variety of poses and settings. Born in Bucharest, Romania, Dutesco attended the Dawson Institute of Photography in Montreal before beginning a short career in fashion photography. Dutesco's oeuvre is eclectic, spanning the range between wildlife photography, formal abstraction, and political portraiture of world leaders such as Mikhail Gorbachev and the Dalai Lama. Stemming from both personal and political interest in his subject matter, his work has been exhibited worldwide in locations such as the Embassy of Canada’s Gallery in Washington, D.C., and at the 2005 World Expo in Japan in The United States Pavilion. Dutesco currently lives and works between Montreal, New York, and São Paulo, Brazil.

Roberto Dutesco Generations- The Wild Horses of Sable Island, 2012 Silver Gelatin print hand annotated by artist 59.87 x 75.50 in

Gruen, Bob American, b. 1945

Bob Gruen is one of the most well-known and respected photographers in rock and roll. By the mid 1970s, he was already regarded as one of the foremost documenters of the scene. While living in New York, he notably befriended John Lennon and Yoko Ono and captured intimate moments from their personal lives. Gruen is perhaps best known for an iconic photograph of Lennon wearing a New York City t-shirt. He also photographed major acts such as Bob Dylan, Tina Turner, The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Elton John, Kiss, and others, while also covering the emerging New Wave and Punk bands including The New York Dolls, Patti Smith, The Clash, The Sex Pistols, The Ramones, and Blondie. Among his many books of photographs are "The Sex Pistols - Chaos," "The Rolling Stones Crossfire Hurricane,""The Clash," "John Lennon - The New York Years," and "Rock Seen." Gruen’s work has been exhibited widely, including at the Brooklyn Museum, Pearlstein Gallery at the Drexel University Museum, Blender Gallery in Sydney, and the Beit Hatfutsot Museum in Tel Aviv, among others. 23

Bob Gruen Mick Jagger, NYC, 1972 (29/50), 2014 Silkscreen on 2ply Rising Museum Board 52.37 x 38.87 in Printed by Gary Lichtenstein Editions

Bob Gruen John Lennon, NYC, 1974 (34/50), 2014 Silkscreen on 2ply Rising Museum Board 54 x 40 in Printed by Gary Lichtenstein Editions

Lichtenstein, Gary American

Over the course of his remarkable 45-year career, Gary Lichtenstein has produced a wide range of silkscreen editions and multiples with artists including Cey Adams, Charlie Ahearn, Janette Beckman, Richard Corman, Bob Gruen and Eric Orr. He has printed for industry legends including Marina Abramovic, Robert Indiana, and Ken Price. Lichtenstein’s prints have been exhibited and collected by, among others, New York’s Museum of Modern Art, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Smithsonian, and the Chicago Art Institute. Gary Lichtenstein Editions is a publisher and printer of fine art silkscreen editions, located in Jersey City, NJ. Eighteen-foot ceilings and gallery-lit exhibition space allow for an everchanging display of work from both recent projects and their extensive print archive. In addition to custom screenprinting services, GLE frequently curates exhibitions, produces events and cultivates site-specific projects and educational programs. 25

Robert Indiana HEAL (red, green, blue variation) (5/5), 2015 Silkscreen on 2ply Rising Museum Board 32 x 32 in Printed by Gary Lichtenstein Editions

Bob Gruen Led Zeppelin, NYC, 1973 (27/50), 2014 Silkscreen on 2ply Rising Museum Board 40 x 50 in Printed by Gary Lichtenstein Editions

Cey Adams American Flag (Black), 2021 Silkscreen on 320g Coventry Rag Paper 28 x 48 in Printed by Gary Lichtenstein Editions

Hirst, Damien British, b. 1965

Damien Hirst is a British Conceptual artist known for his controversial take on beauty and found-art objects. Along with Liam Gillick, Tracey Emin, and Sarah Lucas, Hirst was part of the Young British Artists movement that rose to prominence in the early 1990s. “I have always been aware that you have to get people listening before you can change their minds,” he reflected. “Any artist's big fear is being ignored, so if you get debate, that's great.” As a student at Goldsmiths College in London, his work caught the eye of the collector and gallerist Charles Saatchi, who became an early patron. Hirst’s The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living (1991)—a large vitrine containing an Australian tiger shark suspended in formaldehyde—was financed by Saatchi and helped to launch the artist’s career. Hirst went on to win the coveted Turner Prize in 1995. In 2012, he showed what went on to be one of his most controversial work in decades, the installation In and Out of Love, which consisted of two white windowless rooms in which over 9,000 butterflies flitted around and died. 27

Damien Hirst Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD) (111/300), 2000 Lambda inkjet print in colors on gloss Fujicolor professional paper 45 x 53 x 2.25 in

Indiana, American, 1928–2018

Robert

Robert Indiana was an American Pop artist whose work drew inspiration from signs, billboards, and commercial logos. He is best known for his series of LOVE paintings, which employed bold and colorful letterforms to spell out the word “love.” Following the advice of his friend Ellsworth Kelly, the artist relocated to New York after receiving his BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1954. It was here that Indiana became acquainted with a number of prominent artists, including Agnes Martin, and James Rosenquist. Over the following decades his work became increasingly popular, with both his LOVE and HOPE motifs transformed into a number of public sculptures. In September 2013, the Whitney Museum of American Art opened “Robert Indiana: Beyond LOVE,” the artist’s first retrospective in New York. Indiana died on May 19, 2018 in Vinalhaven, ME. Today, his works are held in the collections of The Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Tate Gallery in London, among others.

Robert Indiana Love Is God (6/25), 2014 Silkscreen on 2ply Rising Museum Board 60 x 60 in Printed by Gary Lichtenstein Editions

LaChapelle, David American, b. 1963

Discovered by Andy Warhol at the age of 17, David LaChapelle began working for Interview Magazine at the threshold of his prolific career. Soon to be known for his hyper-real, distinctly saturated depictions of celebrity culture —Paris Hilton, Muhammad Ali, Britney Spears, Madonna, and Tupac Shakur figuring among his subjects—LaChapelle’s earliest work explored themes of mortality and transcendence through fine art, black-and-white photography. After tremendous success in commercial photography, music videos, and filmmaking, LaChapelle has returned to the gallery settings where he first began. His work today explores the metaphysical themes of his earliest work, referencing art history and religious iconography to make profound commentaries on the contemporary world. “I reintroduce my personal ideas of transfiguration, regaining paradise, and the notion of life after death,” says the artist, who now calls a remote farm in a Hawaiian jungle his home.

David LaChapelle Andy Warhol: Last Sitting (1/10), 1986 Photograph on C-print, paper, diasec 23 x 17.50 in

Longo, Robert American, b. 1953

Robert Longo is an American artist best known for his detailed photorealistic drawings of jumping figures, sharks, tigers, and guns. Drawn in charcoal, graphite, and ink, his monochrome series Men in the City renders businessmen and women in a state of suspended animation, and brought the artist critical acclaim in the early 1980s. Born on January 7, 1953 in Brooklyn, NY, Longo studied sculpture with Cindy Sherman at the State University College in Buffalo, NY where he received his BFA in 1975. “I always think that drawing is a sculptural process,” Longo has explained. “I always feel like I'm carving the image out rather than painting the image. I'm carving it out with erasers and tools like that.” He has gone on to have his work shown at the 1983 and 2004 Whitney Biennial in New York and the 47th Venice Biennale. Longo currently lives and works in New York, NY. The artist’s works are held in the collections of the Albertina in Vienna, the Art Institute of Chicago, The Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Tate Gallery in London, and the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, among others. 33

Robert Longo Untitled (Tree) 17/25), 2018 Archival pigment print on wove paper 36.25 x 59.75 in

Miller, Harland British, b. 1964

Writer and artist Harland Miller explores the relationship between words and images—and the process of producing meaning—in his paintings, sculptures, and mixed-media works. Interested in canonical authors like Edgar Allan Poe and Ernest Hemingway and drawing influence from Ed Ruscha, Mark Rothko, Anselm Kiefer, and Robert Rauschenberg, Miller pointedly combines text and images to comment on the frequent disconnect between representation and reality. For one series of paintings, he transformed canvases into satirical Penguin book covers, inventing keenly witty titles—like The Me I Never Knew (2009) —to send up classical literary motifs. The (often torturous) process of writing itself is the subject of another series, in which Miller covers vintage typewriters with splashes of paint, giving the works titles like, Writing is easy—all you do is feed in a sheet of white A4 paper and stare at it till your forehead bleeds (2009).

Harland Miller The Me I Never Knew (4/50), 2013 Silkscreen print in colors on wove paper 49 x 39 in

Muniz, Vik

Brazilian, b. 1961

Photographer and mixed-media artist Vik Muniz is best known for repurposing everyday materials for intricate and heavily layered recreations of canonical artworks. Muniz works in a range of media, from trash to peanut butter and jelly, the latter used to recreate Andy Warhol’s famous Double Mona Lisa (1963) that was in turn an appropriation of Da Vinci’s original. Layered appropriation is a consistent theme in Muniz’s work: in 2008, he undertook a large-scale project in Brazil, photographing trash-pickers as figures from emblematic paintings, such as Jacques-Louis David’s Neoclassical Death of Marat, and then recreating the photographs in large-scale arrangements of trash. The project was documented in the 2010 film Waste Land in an attempt to raise awareness for urban poverty. Muniz explained the work as a “step away from the realm of fine art,” wanting instead to “change the lives of people with the same materials they deal with every day.”

Vik Muniz Odalisque, after Gustave le Gray (from 'Rebus') (5/6), 2010 Chromogenic print 39.75 x 50.5 in

Rauschenberg, Robert American, 1925 - 2008

Over the course of his six-decade career, Robert Rauschenberg embraced pop culture, technical experimentation, and material eclecticism. Today, he’s perhaps best known for his radical, three-dimensional “Combines”—which he composed from discarded materials and mundane objects such as sheet metal, newspaper, tires, and umbrellas—and for his colorful silkscreen paintings on which he screen-printed, then painted over, collaged photographs sourced from books and magazines. In 1964, Rauschenberg made history when he became the first American to win the Golden Lion award at the Venice Biennale. In the years since, Rauschenberg has been the subject of solo shows at the Guggenheim, Tate Modern, Centre Pompidou, and Moderna Museet, among other institutions. His work belongs in collections worldwide and has sold for tens of millions at auction.

Robert Rauschenberg Street Sounds (34/38), 1992 Intaglio in colors with photogravure and collage on wove paper 46.25 x 54.75 in

Rosenquist, James American, 1933–2017

Leading Pop artist James Rosenquist—who came to prominence among New York School figures like Roy Lichtenstein, Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg, and Willem de Kooning—is well known for his large-scale, fragmented works that bring the visual language of commercial painting onto canvas (notably, from 1957-60, Rosenquist earned his living as a billboard painter). In his use of mass-produced goods and vernacular culture rendered in an anonymous style, Rosenquist's work recalls that of Andy Warhol, while his seemingly irrational, mysterious pictorial combinations owe a debt to Surrealism. His breakthrough work, the iconic F-111 (1965)—51 panels that total over 22 by 24 feet—juxtaposes an American fighter plane with a Firestone tire, garish orange tinned spaghetti, and a young girl under a hair dryer.

James Rosenquist Space Dust (19/56), 1989 Colored pressed paper pulp with collage elements on white TGL handmade paper, the collage elements on Rives BFK wove paper 66.38 x 105.13 in

Ruscha, Ed American, b. 1937

Despite being credited with a Pop sensibility, Ed Ruscha defies categorization with his diverse output of photographic books and tongue-in-cheek photo-collages, paintings, and drawings. Ruscha’s work is inspired by the ironies and idiosyncrasies of life in Los Angeles, which he often conveys by placing glib words and phrases from colloquial and consumerist usage atop photographic images or fields of color. Known for painting and drawing with unusual materials such as gunpowder, blood, and Pepto Bismol, Ruscha draws attention to the deterioration of language and the pervasive cliches in pop culture, illustrated by his iconic 1979 painting I Don’t Want No Retro Spective. “You see this badly done on purpose, but the badly-done-on-purpose thing was done so well that it just becomes, let’s say, profound,” he once said. Equally renowned were his photographic books, in which he transferred the deadpan Pop style into series of images of LA —apartments, palm trees, or Twentysix Gasoline Stations (1962), his most famous work.

Ed Ruscha Sin Without (C.T.P. 1/2), 2002 Lithograph printed in yellow-green on wove paper 26.75 x 46 in

Speers, Vee Australian, b. 1962

For over two decades, Australian French artist Vee Speers has established herself in the art world with her unforgettable portraits. Her carefully choreographed images are painterly and ethereal, with a visual and metaphorical ambiguity which challenges established narratives. Her work has been exhibited in museums, galleries, art fairs and festivals around the world, and been published in features and on covers of more than 60 international magazines, with 3 sold-out monographs of her work. Her photographs have been acquired by Sir Elton John Collection, Hoffman Collection U.S., Carter Potash Collection, Morten Viskum Collection, and Museum of Fine Arts Houston, among others.

Vee Speers Immortal #2, Camille (4/8), 2010 Chromogenic print (c-print) 34.50 x 26 in

Stella, Frank American, b. 1936

Frank Stella, an iconic figure of postwar American art, is considered the most influential painter of a generation that moved beyond Abstract Expressionism toward Minimalism. In his early work, Stella attempted to drain any external meaning or symbolism from painting, reducing his images to geometric form and eliminating illusionistic effects. His goal was to make paintings in which pictorial force came from materiality, not from symbolic meaning. He famously quipped, “What you see is what you see,” a statement that became the unofficial credo of Minimalist practice. In the 1980s and '90s, Stella turned away from Minimalism, adopting a more additive approach for a series of twisting, monumental, polychromatic metal wall reliefs and sculptures based on Herman Melville’s Moby Dick.

Frank Stella The Pacific (Axsom 187) (26/60), 1989 Screenprint, lithograph and linoleum cut printed in colors with handcoloring, marbling and collage on T. H. Saunders and Somerset papers 74.75 x 54.75 in

SWOON American, b.1977

American street artist Swoon is best known for her large-scale wheatpaste prints and paper cutouts. Often depicting portraits of her friends and family, her work involves a wideranging practice that includes installation and performance. Using reclaimed materials whenever possible, Swoon’s images are often printed on recycled newspaper and glued onto abandoned buildings, bridges, and street signs around the world. “There is power on the walls of the city, and I fell in love with every part of that,” said the artist. Born Caledonia Dance Curry, Swoon moved to New York to received her BA in fine arts at the Pratt Institute in 2002. Her work gained recognition after a solo show at Jeffrey Deitch’s Soho gallery in 2005, quickly attracting the attention of gallerists and museum curators. The artist’s site-specific solo show Submerged Motherlands at the Brooklyn Museum in 2014 was the museum’s first exhibition dedicated to a living street artist.

Swoon Alixa and Naima (Variant A), 2021 2 color silkscreen print 11.75 x 13.50 in

Swoon Street Sweeper, 2008 Silkscreen and gouache on collage laid board 13.75 x 27 in

yue

Chinese, b. 1962

Minjun

In his oil paintings, Yue Minjun often inserts himself in iconic moments in art history, painting exaggerated self-portrait figures in candy colors. The figures bear wide smiles with gaping mouths as they enact poses from the works of Caravaggio and other artists from the Western canon. Transforming himself into an icon, the artist has said, “was not meant as a self-portrait in its traditional sense, but something more like a movie star acting in different roles.” Surrealism was an early influence on Yue, who shot to the top of an explosive Chinese contemporary scene as a member of the Cynical Realist movement, his serious political criticism and social commentary hidden behind the mask of his smiling faces. In another series, Yue turned his practice on its head, recreating famous Western and Chinese socialist paintings as empty settings with their subjects removed.

Yue Minjun Untitled (from The Giants of Contemporary Chinese Art Portfolio) (17/99), 2005 Lithograph 21.90 x 29.40 in

YUSKAVAGE, Lisa American, b. 1962

Lisa Yuskavage is known for the thin-armed, big-breasted, wide-hipped women in her paintings who are both childlike and sexually brazen, painted in a palette of mostly pastel colors. Flourishing in lush, magical landscapes underneath dramatic skies, Yuskavage’s languid figures seem filled with desire for themselves. The inclusion of an occasional onlooker in the background adds an additional element of transgression to the narrative and incorporates voyeurism into the paintings themselves, such as in her 2011 work Lauren with a Traveller.

Lisa Yuskavage Hippies. 2015 Eight color giclée with offset lithography in two colors 36.5 × 32.5 in

Warhol, American, 1928–1987

Andy

Obsessed with celebrity, consumer culture, and mechanical (re)production, Pop artist Andy Warhol created some of the most iconic images of the 20th century. As famous for his quips as for his art—he variously mused that “art is what you can get away with” and “everyone will be famous for 15 minutes”—Warhol drew widely from popular culture and everyday subject matter, creating works like his 32 Campbell's Soup Cans (1962), Brillo pad box sculptures, and portraits of Marilyn Monroe, using the medium of silk-screen printmaking to achieve his characteristic hard edges and flat areas of color. Known for his cultivation of celebrity, Factory studio (a radical social and creative melting pot), and avant-garde films like Chelsea Girls (1966), Warhol was also a mentor to artists like Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat. His Pop sensibility is now standard practice, taken up by major contemporary artists Richard Prince, Takashi Murakami, and Jeff Koons, among countless others.

Andy Warhol Zebra (After Warhol), 1983 Color screenprint 38 x 38 in

Andy Warhol Big Horn Ram (After Warhol), 1983 Color screenprint 38 x 38 in

Zao Wou-ki Chinese-French, 1921–2013

A master of postwar art and the highest-selling Chinese painter of his generation, Zao Wou-ki applied Modernist artmaking techniques to traditional Chinese literati painting. Zao moved to Paris in 1948, rejected his Chinese heritage, and immediately began painting in the style of Paul Klee, whose own style was influenced by Chinese landscape painting. By 1954, Zao had developed a unique style that was marked by contrasting colors and lyrical abstraction and that merged Chinese art, as viewed through the lens of European abstraction, with traditional Chinese landscapes. Zao remained wary of objectively Chinese-influenced art and avoided using ink for much of his career, preferring to work with oil paints in a calligraphic style. Like traditional Chinese landscape painting, Zao’s paintings function as fragments of a larger scene, possessing fluidity, transparency, and a graceful luminosity representative of the artist’s interior energies.

Zao Wou-ki Untitled (EA/100), 1970 Etching and Aquatint in Colors on Arches Wove Paper 29.90 x 22 in

Zao Wou-ki Sans Titre (9/15), 1956 Lithograph 16.25 x 19.25 in

Zhang Xiaogang Chinese, b. 1958

Relying on memory to recreate a highly personal version of his country’s history, Zhang Xiaogang makes art that is as much about himself as it is about China’s past. The grim imaginary families in his “Bloodlines: The Big Family” paintings of the 1990s and his 2005–06 series of grisaille portraits in oil reveal countless narratives about the aspirations and failures of the Cultural Revolution as well as Zhang’s own emotions. Like the blank visages of the individuals in these paintings, Zhang’s brass and concrete sculptures of figures, as well as implements used for recording history (such as fountain pens, notebooks, and light bulbs, all 2009), appear compressed and distorted by memory, age, and some unknown force.

Zhang Xiaogang Untitled, from Bloodline: Big Family (17/68), 2007 Lithograph in colors on Arches paper 36.50 x 51.50 in

ON THE WALL

WCC GIVES BACK 'On the Wall' is WCC's initiative to promote the arts community by integrating a curated roster of new talent in each of our exhibitions. WCC is excited to feature the Heliotrope Foundation as our sixth capsule collection alongside Austin on Paper. Founded by street artist Caledonia Curry, aka Swoon, Heliotrope facilitates projects that help rebuild communities impacted by economic devastation, and urgent social crisis. Heliotrope features limited-edition fine art prints by a range of emerging and mid-career artists with proceeds directly aiding the Foundation's efforts. WCC is honored to support the efforts of the Heliotrope Foundation and afford our collector community the ability to discover and support influential artists on the rise.

The Heliotrope Foundation supports communities through creative responses to adversity. Founded by artist Caledonia Curry, aka Swoon, Heliotrope facilitates projects that help communities respond and heal after natural disasters, economic devastation, and urgent social crisis. We believe that the creative process can be a uniquely transformative part of how we rebuild our communities and move society forward. KONBIT SHELTER Heliotrope Foundation's main project is Konbit Shelter, which began as a sustainable re-building project in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake that hit Haiti in 2010 and has developed into a long-term relationship with the community of Cormiers, based on a shared commitment to the process of recovery. COMPASS & THE EVERYDAY HEALING ZINE During the COVID-19 pandemic, we find ourselves living in a time where we must creatively re-envision self-care and wellness. With the idea of sharing healing creative activities that everyone can access from home, Heliotrope created resources in the form of two-printed volumes available all for free download on the Heliotrope Foundation website.

Glossary

Collage “Collage is the cut, the tear, the rupture and the overlay of our contemporary culture. It is the hybrid language of urbanity—remixed, re-contextualized, and wholly built from the fragments of daily life.” – Pavel Zoubok Derived from the French verb coller, meaning “to glue,” collage refers to both the technique and the resulting work of art in which fragments of paper, photographs, and other ephemera are arranged and affixed to a supporting surface. Though long a popular pastime amongst scrapbookers, the technique’s art-historical beginnings are generally traced back to the early twentieth century, pioneered by French Cubists Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque. The development of collage in art ran parallel to experiments in poetry and literature in the early 20th century, where aesthetic principles of fragmentation, reassembly, and multiple meanings reflected the rapid societal and technological changes ushered in by modernism and urbanization. Because collage often incorporates mass-produced images, the practice is often inseparable from its historical and political context, making it a powerful mode of social commentary. Contemporary artists continue to explore the richness of collage in their efforts to question assumptions, biases, and pressing political crises.

Etching Etching is an intaglio printmaking technique that uses chemical action to produce incised lines in a metal printing plate which then holds the applied ink and forms the image. The plate, traditionally copper but now often zinc, is prepared with acid-resistant ground. A fine-pointed etching needle called a diamond stylus is used to draw on the plate through the ground exposing the metal. The plate is then immersed in acid and the exposed metal is “bitten,” producing incised lines. Stronger acid and longer exposure produce more deeply bitten lines. The resist is removed and ink is then applied to the sunken lines and the excess ink is wiped from the surface. The plate is then placed against paper and passed through a printing press with great pressure to transfer the ink from the recessed lines. Sometimes the ink may be left on the plate surface to provide a background tone. Etching was used for decorating metal from the fourteenth century but was probably not used for printmaking much before the early sixteenth century. Since then many etching techniques have been developed, which are often used in conjunction with each other: soft-ground etching, also known as dry-point, is a technique used to create a more painterly effect, which produces lines with fuzzy velvety edges by leaving the residue “burr” inside the incised lines; spit bite involves painting or splashing acid onto the plate; open bite in which areas of the plate are exposed to acid with no resist; photo-etching (also called photogravure) is produced by coating the printing plate with a light sensitive acid-resist ground and then exposing this to light to reproduce a photographic image. *see Intaglio

INTAGLIO Most likely developed from the decoration of precious metals in medieval times, intaglio printmaking refers to all printmaking in which an acid or pointed tool is used to incise a metal matrix generally composed of copper, iron, steel, or zinc. The word comes from the Italian intagliare, meaning “to incise” or “to carve.” In intaglio printing, the lines or areas that hold the ink are incised below the surface of the plate, and printing relies on the pressure of a press to force damp paper into these incised lines or areas to pick up ink, resulting in characteristically raised lines. Intaglio techniques include etching, engraving, aquatint, photogravure, mezzotint, and drypoint; oftentimes used in combination, these techniques can produce variations in both tone and contrast.

LITHOGRAPH Commonly regarded as the most difficult printmaking method to learn and master, lithography was invented in Germany in 1796. The term is derived from the Greek words for stone (litho) and drawing (graph). The technique involves drawing with an oil-based implement (typically a greasy crayon or liquid called tusche) directly onto a smoothed surface, traditionally limestone but now often aluminum. When the greasy image is ready to be printed, a chemical mixture is applied across the surface of the stone or plate in order to securely bond it. The surface is then dampened with water, which adheres only to the non-marked area. Oil-based printer ink, applied with a roller, sticks to the greasy imagery and not to areas protected by the film of water. Damp paper is placed on top of this surface and run through a press to transfer the image. In addition to the traditional method described here, other types of lithography include offset lithography, photolithography, and transfer lithography. Offset lithography involves printing the image onto an intermediate surface before the final sheet. The process is ‘offset’ because the plate does not come in direct contact with the paper, which preserves the quality of the plate. Lithography was invented in the late eighteenth century, initially using 1500 pound Bavarian limestones (one for each color used) as the printing surface. Its invention made it possible to print a much wider range of marks and areas of tone than possible with earlier printmaking relief or intaglio methods. It also made color printing easier: areas of different colors can be applied to separate stones and overprinted onto the same sheet. Each sheet must be hung to dry for 24-hours before an additional color can be applied. 68

PAPERCUT Papercut refers to handicrafts made by cutting paper with scissors or an engraving knife to form different patterns and images. Chinese paper cutting originated in the practice of worship to both ancestors and gods, a traditional part of Chinese culture dating back roughly two millennia. According to archaeological records, papercutting can be dated to the 6th century, although some believe that its history can be traced back to as far as 3 BC, long before paper was invented. Papercutting as an art form matured during the Tang dynasty, where it became considered not only a type of handicraft but also a type of artwork, as ideas and concepts were expressed through the pattern cut into the paper. In contemporary Chinese culture paper-cutting is used to decorate doors, windows, and walls to show happiness and celebrate festivals such as Chinese New Year, weddings, and childbirth. Typically papercuts are created from red paper, a color that is associated with happiness and luck.

Photography Since its invention in 1839, photography has served as a medium for documenting, understanding, and interpreting the world. The word photography is named after the Greek word for light (phos) and drawing (graphê), translating to drawing with light. The medium has radically contributed to the evolution of visual representation, in part by allowing for the documentation of a moment in time, and, because of its inherent reproducibility, by enabling the wide circulation and distribution of images. Photographs are forms of representation, shaped by a series of decisions made by the photographer. Moreover, the way we interpret a photograph is influenced not only by the photographer’s intention, but also by the ways in which a picture is produced, edited, and circulated. Photography has been used throughout history and into the present day as a tool for science and exploration; as a means of documenting people, places and events; of telling stories and recording histories; and as a mode of communication and critique in our increasingly visual culture. The medium is being continually reinvented and rethought, shaped as much by technological advances as it is by the ever-changing dialogues surrounding photography’s use.

Photogravure A photomechanical printing process, photogravure prints are made from a metal plate, like an etching or engraving, using ink to form the image. A positive transparency of a photographic image is used to control the etching of a specially prepared metal plate. After etching in an acid bath, the plate is inked and the surface wiped, leaving ink behind in the etched pits. A sheet of damp paper is then placed on the inked plate and printed. The technique was originally favored because it was possible to make large numbers of permanent images of consistent quality. Their rich velvety matte surface, deep shadows, delicate halftones, and luminous highlights make photogravures unique and tactical images. Their invention, critical to the development of photography itself, was derived from the nineteenth-century quest to harness the power of ‘diffusing thought’ through the action of light. The most successful method introduced by Talbot in 1852 and perfected by Karl Klíč add in 1879, the process came into general use in the 1890s for high-quality photographic reproductions. Over time, photogravures have become increasingly valued as works of fine art. Today photogravure is considered one of the finest and most time-intensive of the photographic processes. *see Intaglio

Screenprint Screenprinting is a stencil-based printmaking technique in which an ink-blocking stencil is applied to a screen allowing ink that is wiped across the screen to selectively pass through to a printing surface. The screen itself is created by stretching a woven fabric (originally silk, now more commonly synthetic material) tightly over a wooden frame. Areas of the screen that are not part of the image are blocked out with a variety of stencil-based methods, including painting on glue or lacquer or by applying adhesive film or paper. Ink or paint is then forced through the unblocked areas of the screen with a rubber blade, known as a squeegee, directly onto the paper. Multiple colors are achieved in a single screenprint by using a separate screen for each color, a process that requires extreme precision. Screenprints typically feature bold, hard-edged areas of flat, unmodulated color. Originally used for commercial purposes in the early 20th century, the technique was then termed “serigraphy” in the 1940s to denote its use for fine art. The term “silkscreen” is also commonly used to describe this technique noting the origin of the screen material. The technique has been widely used by artists as a printmaking technique since the 1950s and artists of the 1960s, most notably Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein, incorporated screenprinted images from mass media into their work.

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