In September the David Krut team welcomed a couple of visitors from Leipzig, Germany – Anna-Louise Roland, the founder, director and curator of the Leipzig International Art Programme; and Maria Ondrej, visual artist and master printer at the Atelier Fur Radierung.
Anna-Louise was in Johannesburg to confirm the selection of nine South African artists to be in residence for three months at the Spinnerei Arts Complex in 2022. The project is in collaboration with the David Krut Workshop (DKW) and The Centre for the Less Good Idea. Maria will facilitate the creation of an etching with each participant during the course of the residencies in Leipzig.
During their week of sightseeing, interviews, gallery visits, talks and presentations, Maria was able to spend the better part of two days at our workshop dedicated to a print jam with printers Sarah Judge, Roxy Kaczmarek and Sbongiseni Khulu. A few others from the David Krut family were also able to make a plate towards the collaborative print – workshop intern Nina Jacobson, patissier and German interpreter Elli Saayman, and gallery assistant Melissa Waters.
Maria suggested free reign in terms of subject matter and theme, encouraging everyone to make “their art.” An initial idea was for each person to focus on a particular print technique – hardground and softground etching and sugarlift and spitbite aquatint, but on many plates multiple techniques were combined. The experience led to a great deal of learning and exchange. The DKW printers and Maria were often in conversation about how their printing techniques and workshop practices differed and aligned.
The team pulled two large sheets with all the plates placed in a grid – one monochromatic and one with each plate inked up in a different colour.
