Sam Gilliam American, b. 1933
unique lithographic offset monoprint with flocking and glitter on folded Rives BFK
Experimental printmaking has been a companion practice to Sam Gilliam’s long and distinguished career. We are delighted to share an important example from a series of monoprints made at William Weege’s Jones Road press in Wisconsin in 1972.
"Since 1971 he (Weege) has produced a freewheeling and open-ended series of usually large-scale works with a spectacular eccentricity of printing techniques, pursuing his unorthodox career by pulping, dipping, stitching, flocking, cutting, tearing, laminating, weaving, and generally astonishing the print worls with boisterous inventiveness of his mind." (Jones Road Print Shop and Stable 1971-1981 A catalog raisonne)
Untitled 36 is one such example. Prints from this series share some layers, primarily the blue and red shapes, and further on in the process, new layers distinguish each sheet. Residual histories or ghosts of inks remain on the printed plates to inform and enrich other impressions. The green at the center of Untitled 36 has glitter added to the ink as it was printed. These additions and subtractions to the composition make each impression from this series a unique and individual work. (Jones Road #6.)
