Gfeller + Hellsgård
Original paintings and artists' books
“The science and study of color have many ramifications, but no aspect is more fascinating than the art of printing.” Preface of Color by overprinting, Donald E.Cooke, 1955
We have been exploring screen-printing for over 20 years. In our quest to test and push the boundaries of screen-printing, we have begun to deconstruct its conventions, techniques and the formal structures of print-making. In this particular untitled unique book, each page features an original monotype, blurring the border between printing and painting. Since Malevitch's black square, monochrome benefits of a strong historical tradition in painting, while in print-making the challenging exercise remains anecdotic. As such, we conceived the monochromes in this book like paintings in which intentional accidents, overlaps, smudges play an important part. Fundamentally, we used the screens and squeegees the same way a painter is using a brush. We playfully experimented, revisiting colour theory. We build each “image” one layer after another, adding, erasing, covering, printing light over dark colours, playing with transparencies until the monotype’s deep, intensity and complexity was satisfying.
- Gfeller & Hellsgård
In their abstraction, formalism and chromatic interest, our series of monotypes nod to the vacuum-sealed aesthetics of minimalism, but they also carried a wealth of Duchampien allusions, balancing consciously between good and bad taste. One could question, is Less is more still relevant facing a day-glow monochrome ?
