BERLIN.- Contemporary Fine Arts, in cooperation with Two Palms, is presenting the exhibition "Two Palms“ with works by Mel Bochner, Cecily Brown, Chuck Close, Peter Doig, Carroll Dunham, Ellen Gallagher, Chris Ofili, Elizabeth Peyton, Richard Prince, and Dana Shutz.
Since the mid‐1990s, Two Palms has been upending codified notions of what a print could or should be, and how it could be made, expanding the roster of tools to include their massive hydraulic press, their laser cutters, giving paper an enhanced physicality, constantly embracing new technologies. Simultaneously they have also rededicated themselves to traditional techniques, ever expanding their expertise in intaglio and screenprint, and reviving nearly‐lost mediums, like the Woodburytype.
The artworks coming out of Two Palms prove that printmaking shows no sign of waning in the new millennium. The studio embodies the kind of openness and risk‐taking that are the hallmark of all Two Palms projects, and a porosity that represents the next step in printmaking’s evolution: simultaneously relying on and exploding tradition; welcoming the incursion of other mediums and materials; and above all, letting the artist’s vision be the guiding north star.
Alongside classical etchings by Peter Doig and Chris Ofili, the largest space in the exhibition is reserved for monotypes by Mel Bochner, Cecily Brown, Carroll Dunham, Elizabeth Peyton, and Dana Schutz. The artists paint on plexiglass or wood plates, then the image is transferred to the paper under extreme pressure using an industrial hydraulic press.
A separate room in the show is dedicated to the works of Richard Prince. These works include Joke on You, a collaged, inlaid joke piece on wood panel, silkscreened collages, a digital pigment print on canvas, and Bad Nurse, a sculpture of satirical pulp fiction nurse novels: the entire Prince universe of the last years is graphically brought together here.
The range of technical print possibilities from Two Palms includes Chuck Close’s Woodburytypes which revive an obscure 19th century printmaking medium. The visually complex works by Ellen Gallagher reveal an artist taking full advantage of Two Palms technical virtuosity. Gallagher’s DeLuxe, published by Two Palms in 2005, is recognized by MoMA New York as a milestone in printmaking development of the 21st century.
