Arc of the Curve
13 January – 12 February, 2005
This newest group of prints further demonstrates Serra’s respect for the history and discipline of printmaking and his ability to expand its language and technical possibilities. Wanting to make etchings greater in scale than any previous effort, Serra began the project in December 2003 by requesting that Gemini find a supplier for oversize copper plates. The prints in the series range in size from large (47 x 35 inches) to immense (90 x 96 inches), echoing the artist’s sculptures in their monumentality. The copper plates from which these highly textured etchings are printed are very deeply bitten in an acid tank for four to five days. Each plate, requiring in excess of a pound of ink, is scraped, rolled, and wiped by hand over the course of two hours before an impression can be pulled.
His prints, says Serra, “are mostly studies made after a sculpture has been completed. They are the result of trying to assess and define what surprises me in a sculpture, what I could not understand before a work was built. They enable me to understand different aspects of perception as well as the structural potential of a given sculpture."
Venice Notebook 2001: New Prints June 28 – August 30, 2002
