João Ferreira

Registration

04 Nov - 12 Dec 2009

© Hentie van der Merwe
Beekeeper II
59.5 x 44 cm
REGISTRATION

Curated by Zhané Warren

4 November - 12 December 2009
Opening reception: Wednesday, 4 November at 6pm

João Ferreira Gallery and Warren Editions are pleased to announce Registration, an exhibition of prints produced by South African artists in collaboration with WE. The term and title performs a few acts other than its staid dictionary definitions among which are; an act of enrolling and, a body of people associated by some common tie or occupation and regarded as an entity, who enrol at the same time. Registration, according to printmaker jargon anticipates the giddy delight derived from another printer colloquialism, that of 'pulling prints' to make up an edition of work that functions as a cohesive and coherent body on a technical level. To the layman and easier on the tongue, the prints in an edition have to look the same.

Behind the fly wheel of the printing press and the myriad spectrum coloured tarlatan rags used to wipe plates clean, registration is the concerted effort of any printmaker in ensuring the correct alignment of plate to paper in the creation of an edition of print works. The edition, albeit made by the trained hands of the printmaker along with the artists’ vision, endeavours to encompass a number of identical prints throughout. Inherent to the nature of hand-wiped plates and lack of mechanical cool, the prints in an edition remain individual works. It is indeed only the pedantic printmaker who detects the slightest interference. Yet, through the idiosyncrasies and enviable quirks of print come their worth and value as original and prized works.

The artists in collaboration with WE have in many cases made prints as an addendum to larger bodies of works. On this show however, WE showcase the print as it stands aside from other art mediums. Back to the dictionary, Registration hopes to adjust if not align a renewed take on the craftsmanship of printmaking for its aesthetic credentials and honoured technique.