Richard Serra has been pushing the boundaries of printmaking since 1972. In the Venice Notebook etchings, executed in connection with his installation at the 2001 Venice Biennale, Serra continues to expand the physicality and formal considerations of his prints as they relate to his minimal, monumental sculpture. Serra viewed the two Torqued Ellipse sculptures from a lift high above them and recorded their various shapes and compositions from different angles in his notebook as studies.
Portfolio is currently offering Notebook #2, #3 and #6 for sale.
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Working directly on metal plates, Serra translated these drawings, applying layer upon layer of Paintstik and lithographic crayon. The plates then underwent a painstaking and highly technical deep-etching process that gives the finished prints a sculptural, textured appearance. The pitch-black of the ink rising off of the stark white of the paper has been compared to the way his positive sculptural shapes figure against the negative spaces in which they are shown. 20 plates in all were created.
A unique aspect of this series of works on paper is that the publisher Gemini, sprayed the paper with a special acrylic, clear-coating so that the works can be framed without the need for glass to protect them. This allows for unobstructed viewing of the "sculptural" quality of these deeply etched and generously inked prints.