-
- N. Krishna Reddy has been a printmaker for over 55 years. Mr. Reddy’s book entitled “Intaglio Simultaneous Color Printmaking: Significance of Materials and Processes” is dedicated to his friend and early teacher, the eminent printmaker Stanley William Hayter, Founder-Director of Atelier 17 in Paris. Hayter established his Atelier in 1926, focusing “on experimentation and the discovery of new technical and expressive possibilities in printmaking, particularly intaglio.” During the war years the Atelier had to shut down, eventually relocating and reorganizing in Manhattan.
Much of the book’s text is based on prior participation with “friendly and genuinely interested students, artists and friends in whose company (he) developed these discussions.” An early chapter gives a brief history of color printmaking including many visuals by well-known artist- printmakers, as well as multiple black and white and color diagrams. Also included are photographs showing engraving or relief techniques, enlarged microscopic details of prepared plate surfaces, unusually fascinating magnified photos of hand-made paper and the surreal structural make-up of floating colored pigments. A further series of photos shows mug shots of imagery being developed atop various metal plates using the diversified tools and chemicals of the
trade. Besides discussing materials and processes in printmaking so as to reach a deeper comprehension” the author also focuses on “the new areas of viscosity color printmaking from intaglio plates.”
In his preface, Mr. Reddy writes that printmaking “is one of the most inspiring means of expression.” He states, “the wealth of materials and processes and their wide range of effects, make printmaking unique in the field of art.” It’s a creative area “in a constant state of renewal, full of experiment and innovation.” However, the author also warns that numerous technological advances in the graphic arts have gradually introduced a mechanical orientation into the field, an approach he feels will inevitably erodes one’s sensibility, thus affecting the personal eloquence achievable within this unique medium. The result is often ones loss of “soul and spirit of the medium.” Accordingly, Mr. Reddy doesn’t offer “recipes or formulas,” but rather challenges and encourages contemporary printmakers “to take the journey on their own.” For him, this is most relevant. Such a path of self-discovery enhances the potential uniqueness and underlining spirit of the conceived imagery. “We stand between the immense cosmos and the unfathomable universe within us,” he comments. All this is in keeping with the Atelier 17’s benevolent tradition of creative experimentation expressed through curiosity and sincerity.
Mr. Reddy traveled to Paris in 1951. At the time, he was a working sculptor from India. He soon gravitated to Atelier 17. This was a period that attracted multi-national émigré artists seeking freedom of expression within a cooperative and challenging artistic milieu. The Atelier provided a place of refuge for momentous and unlimited experimentation by a syndicate of artists freely able to express themselves. Hayter had an “adventurous spirit,”so the facility became ”a place of great activity and experiment.” Freedom and spontaneity were essential to the process. It was primarily a ”trial and error”approach. The atmosphere was congenial. Artists worked together in a harmonious, communal environment sharing their findings and ultimate achievements. Sadly, such a spirit of co-operative interaction seems to have slowly been repressed within our contemporary creative arena.
Resulting works-of-art from the recent past and extending into our present generations, have shown them to be tragically substandard, seemingly dishonest, creatively vague, as well as decoratively meaningless. Younger developing artists are being shortchanged within an instructional system of methodologies focusing more on an artificial approach to creativity and less on truthful observation mingling with passion while expressing the uniqueness of our personalities. Frankly, we create from what we absorb and if a creative being can’t or doesn’t relate to the living, breathing environment of our mother ship than one
is not equipped to express the saga of life in any medium.
Mr. Reddy stands convinced that “perceiving the significance of materials is essential to our understanding, and to the possibility of bringing out the meaning and beauty of our concepts.” He writes in a poetic, nonetheless direct approach. In the section entitled “Processes as Experiment and Exploration” there is an analogy of sowing one’s creative seed. For him, artists must be attuned to “the movement of nature’s rhythm (and must) engage in a dynamic and complex interplay with the environment ... It is our mind that we see reflected in every manifestation of nature ... in the world ... nature is in a state of constant movement and change” he states.
The author views mankind as having transformed and rearranged his world, thus perceiving “... the world in terms of his thinking; it has nothing to do with real life” Mr. Krishna Reddy remarks. For him, “This earth, so subtle and enduring, is an unimaginable marvel. We (should) recognize ourselves only as part of this living organism. We are of it as we are embedded in it.”
Available in hard or soft cover, this book is a thought-provoking study about the practical and philosophical essence of being an artist. I found myself marveling at the author’s immense consciousness of the meaning of life while proclaiming such awareness to be a powerful conduit towards creating one’s artwork. There is depth, curiosity, observation, understanding, knowledge, symbolism, and a cosmic association to Mr. Reddy’s analysis of creativity. This is an artist who has furtively thought out his entanglement to being and its connection towards a creative life. He expresses himself lucidly, fluidly and dynamically. He is an artist who is part poet and all philosopher-wise man. His creative mind and soul are alert, passionate, and sensitive, and his discussions provide manna for growth. In a sense, this is a book on how to evolve creatively.
|
-