Printmaking: Editions as Artworks

Abstract

dramatic change in popularity of the lithograph. Around 1960, through the Tamarind project and the opening of Universal Limited Art Editions, lithography was successfully resuscitated into an energetic and, currently, very lively art form.1 Because of the enormous possibilities of experimentation with and application of new technology, printmaking has attracted many artists, even those trained in other media. Yet, despite this burst of activity, contemporary artists have not articulated a philosophy of printmaking. Not only have artists failed to place this medium into current social and aesthetic context, but contemporary critics have also neglected to investigate thoroughly the ontology of printmaking. Seldom does any broad critical discussion of the nature of printmaking take place, certainly not at the level and with the frequency of discussions on painting or sculpture. But if we are to understand how this medium functions within the concerns and goals of contemporary art, we must question descriptions and definitions of printmaking and search for the hidden potentials of this particular set of materials. Painting, sculpture, and printmaking are not isolated categories but only ways of thinking about and using different materials. How, then, should one think about printmaking? What qualities are inherent in the medium? Or more specifically, what are editions of prints? And what is the relationship between prints and editions?