The printers of David Krut Print Workshop, in a collaboration with William Kentridge’s studio team, have been carving and printing linos to create a fascinating new body of work. The linocuts began as a series of small ink drawings on old dictionary pages by William Kentridge, executed using broad and thin paintbrushes. As a result, the images are made up of both solid and very fine lines, typical of the unconstrained virtuoso mark for which Kentridge has become known. The drawings have then been transferred to linoleum plates, painstakingly carved by a team of printmakers, and printed onto pages of the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary and Chamber’s Encyclopaedia.
As a result of this meticulous mechanical translation of a gestural mark, the linocuts push the boundaries of the characteristics traditionally achieved by the medium. The identical brush mark replication of the linocuts make for intriguing nuances, in contrast with the typical characteristics of the printing method. Furthermore, being non-archival old book pages, the paper has very little absorbency and so the ink sits on the surface with an appealing glossy glow. Many of the images are recurring themes in Kentridge’s art and stage productions, such as the cat, trees, coffee pots and the nude. While some images are obvious, others dissolve into abstracted and Japanese Ukiyo-e brushstroke-inspired suggestions.
Below are a selection of images from the Workshop.
