Artist: Edward Ruscha Title: News, Mews, Pews, Brews, Stews & Dues Audio: Date: 1970 Dimensions: Six prints, each 23″ x 32″ 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) Suggested Readings – Marshall, Richard. Ed Ruscha, 2003. Call Number: N6537 .R87 M37x 2003 – Ruscha, Edward. Leave Any Information at the Signal: Writings, Interviews, Bits, Pages, 2002. Call Number: N6537 .R87 A35 […]
Silkscreen
Artist: Shahzia Sikander (Pakistani, b. 1969) Title: Embark/Disembark I-VI Audio: Date: 2002 Dimensions: I, V, VI, 18″ x 15″; II, 15″ x 18″; III-IV, 24″ x 20″ Location in Library: Fourth floor Media: Photolithography and silkscreen; works on paper Owner: The Brooklyn College Library Collection. Purchased with Dormitory Authority of New York Art Acquisition Funds. © Shahzia Sikander Description: Sikander began her formal art training by studying Indian and Persian miniatures. She reinterprets this genre by combining Christian, Hindu, and Muslim iconography in a contemporary medium. Using the central image of the woman, the artist explores both her personal identity and broader political and gender issues. Her work is remarkable for its breathtaking delicacy, meticulous details, and dreamlike rhythm. When asked what her work means, Sikander replied, “It’s not a question of what kinds of meaning the image is transmitting but what kind of meaning the viewer is projecting [on to my work].” Related Websites– Shahzia Sikander’s Website –Shahzia Sikander at The Morgan Library – Shahzia Sikander at PBS Suggested Reading– Berry, Ian and Jessica Hough. Shahzia Sikander: Nemesis, 2004.Call Number: N7310.73 .S57 A4 2004
Artist: Sarah Sze Title: Night Audio: Date: 2001-03 Dimensions: 37 1/2″ x 71″ Location in Library: First floor Media: Offset lithography and silkscreen, works on paper Owner: The Brooklyn College Library Collection. Purchased with Dormitory Authority of New York Art Acquisition Funds. © Sarah Sze Description: In both Day and Night a fantasy of miscellany is set free from function and gravity. In these exuberant prints, screened lines seem to propel and control the planets, buildings, architectural details, helicopters, signs, and satellite objects that swirl across the paper. Using dozens of layers of lithography and silkscreen, Sze creates an explosion of colors, forms, and light. There is an initial impression of chaos but there is also an inherent underlying composition. Although she begins with preliminary sketches, Sze describes her creative process as “improvisational, like jazz.” Related Websites– Sarah Sze’s Website – Sarah Sze at Gagosian Gallery
