linocut on Japanese Kozo 38gsm paper

Artwork date: 2000
Signature details: signed and inscribed ‘AP’ in pencil in the margin From an edition of 25 with 9 printed on canvas
Literature: Law-Viljoen, B. (2006). William Kentridge Prints. Johannesburg: David Krut Publishing, another example from the edition illustrated on p.97. Hecker, J. (2010). William Kentridge Trace: Prints from the Museum of Modern Art. New York: The Museum of Modern Art, another example from the edition illustrated, plate 12. McCrickard, K. (2012). William Kentridge. Johannesburg: David Krut Publishing, another example from the edition illustrated on p.38. Stewart, S. (2004). William Kentridge Prints. Johannesburg: David Krut Publishing, another example from the edition illustrated on p.97. David Krut arranged for the importation of the finest Japanese Kozo paper in the lightest of weights – 38 grams per square metre – and also a high quality canvas for the printing of this edition. In order to lay the lino flat, a table had to be incorporated into the press bed to facilitate it moving under the heavy roller.

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sheet size: 229 x 120 cm

Notes:

The Telephone Lady linoleum sheet was approximately two metres long and one metre wide, but the papers and canvas were wider than the press bed. This required a folding on the paper width which caused some ink imperfections in the margins and some minor cuts or folds. Osiah Masekoameng and Jackie Motswani did the printing at Artist’s Proof Studio.With linocuts of this size, keeping the fine cut lines free of ink is a challenge. The printing transfers off the surface of the lino, but because of the size of the lino and the modified press bed there was some slippage of the light paper going through the heavy roller causing minor variations in the sharpness of some of the printed lines Various trial proofs were needed and were done on both rice papers and the Kozo. The numbered edition of 25 was printed on the Kozo paper with 5 artist’s proofs. The numbered edition on canvas was 9.The monumental female figure, striding or dancing across a recognisably South African landscape, has partly transformed into a giant Bakelite telephone, immediately recalling the 1950s and 60s. The motifs, of mutation and of an unsettled and unsettling nostalgia, reoccur often in Kentridge’s work.

David Krut

Sources:

Law-Viljoen, B. (2006). William Kentridge Prints. Johannesburg: David Krut Publishing, another example from the edition illustrated on p.97.

Hecker, J. (2010). William Kentridge Trace: Prints from the Museum of Modern Art. New York: The Museum of Modern Art, another example from the edition illustrated, plate 12.

McCrickard, K. (2012). William Kentridge. Johannesburg: David Krut Publishing, another example from the edition illustrated on p.38.

Stewart, S. (2004). William Kentridge Prints. Johannesburg: David Krut Publishing, another example from the edition illustrated on p.97.