David Krut Publishing,
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William Kentridge has been working with Jillian Ross at David Krut Print Workshop, originating a series of images on copper plates for editioning. The prints give expression to several strands of ideas relating to his multifaceted projects. Kentridge works steadily towards the completion of a major work by exploring ideas through printmaking and drawing. When making prints, he frequently returns to the same plate, making small alterations by deepening lines, burnishing previously scratched areas or adding acid to give tone to the plate. This process is clearly visible in the series of doves, which exists in ten different states. When all the states in the edition are seen together, the birds seem almost to be in motion, reminding the viewer of Kentridge’s method of making animations for film.

The bird and bird catcher imagery alludes to the character of Papageno in Mozart’s opera The Magic Flute. Kentridge designed the lighting and sets for the critically acclaimed recent production of the opera, which premiered at La Monnaie in Brussels and opens in South Africa in 2007.

“The Nose” series alludes to the satirical story of the same name by Nikolai Gogol, upon which Shostakovich based his 1930 opera. Kentridge has been commissioned by the Metropolitan Opera in New York to produce this work for 2010.

The prints in “Etchings for II Sole de 24 Ore” are studies for a series of images commissioned for the Sunday edition of the Italian newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore. The images will feature in the paper over five consecutive weeks. Kentridge has chosen as his subject matter the 1935-1941 Italian campaign in Ethiopia.

For more details on these prints

Keywords: Art Gallery, Arts-and-Culture