Artist: Robert Motherwell (American, 1915-1991) Title: Africa Suite, Number 10 Audio: Date: 1970 Dimensions: 40 3/4″ x 28 1/4″ Location in Library: Fourth floor Media: Screenprint, works on paper Owner: The Brooklyn College Library Collection. © Dedalus Foundation and VAGA (Visual Artists and Galleries Association, Inc.) Description: By the 1950’s Motherwell had moved away from automatism and toward spontaneous brushwork and bold, simple forms inspired by Chinese and Japanese brush painting. Motherwell said that “abstract rhythms, immediately felt, could be an expression of the inner self.” Black and white are the predominant colors in many of Motherwell’s works; he said, “Black is death, anxiety; white is life . . .” In Motherwell’s works, these colors also evoke printed words, symbols, brilliant shadows, and the extremes of darkness and light. Related Websites– Robert Motherwell at PBS– Robert Motherwell at Guggenheim Collection– Robert Motherwell at MoMA Suggested Readings– Engberg, Siri. Robert Motherwell: The Complete Prints 1940-1991: Catalogue Raisonné, 2003. Call Number: NE539 .M67 A4 2003– Motherwell, Robert. The Collected Writings of Robert Motherwell, 1999. Call Number: ND237.M852 A35 1999
1970
Artist: Edward Ruscha Title: News, Mews, Pews, Brews, Stews & Dues Audio: Date: 1970 Dimensions: Six prints, each 23″ x 32″ This portfolio is number 122 Location in Library: Fourth floor Media: Silkscreen prints on paper works on paper Owner: The Brooklyn College Library Collection. © Edward Ruscha Description: In the series News, Mews, Pews, Brews, Stews & Dues, Ruscha probes the visual and emotive power of words by playing with similar sounds and humorous rhymes. The six words he uses are rendered in an old Gothic-style lettering and are expressions of Ruscha’s impressions of England — its houses, cathedrals, cuisine, etc. The artist experiments with the printmaking media, using organic materials such as black currant pie filling, red salmon roe, raw egg, squid ink, chutney, chocolate syrup, Bolognese sauce, daffodils, and axle grease to create the silk-screened prints. Related Websites – Website of the Edward Ruscha Catalogue Raisonné – Ed Ruscha at Gagosian Gallery – Ed Ruscha at MoMA – “One Artist Journeys Down Another’s ‘Road'” (from the New York Times) – Ed Ruscha / NOW THEN | MoMA – Ed Rusch’s “Chocolate Room” Still Tantalizes (from New York Times) Suggested Readings – Marshall, Richard. Ed Ruscha, 2003. Call […]
