Artist melds lithography, authenticity, creative process<\/p>\n
By Margaret Agusta<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Lithography is perhaps one of the most
\nmisunderstood creative processes. Mention lithography and art in
\nthe same breath and someone is likely to ask: How could a print
\nbe considered a work of art? Isn't it just a copy of something?<\/p>\n
These questions arise because from the time the technique of
\nlithography was developed in Germany by playwright Alois
\nSenefelder in the early 19th century it has been used in the
\npublishing and mass communication industries.<\/p>\n
Lithography, which means \"to write or draw on stone\" in the
\nGreek language, began with the process of placing an image on
\nlimestone and then transferring it to paper. In modern commercial
\nprinting, the lithographic plates are made of metal or paper, not
\nstone.<\/p>\n
Since it became a prominent commercial printing process at the
\nbeginning of the 20th century, technological advances in plates,
\ninks, paper and presses have made lithography the most widely
\nused method of commercial printing. The lithographic process is
\nutilized in the production of books, magazines, calendars,
\ncatalogs, greeting cards, brochures, billboards and bonds.<\/p>\n
Therefore, it is not surprising that the term lithographic
\nprint brings to mind something one could find on the shelves of a
\nbookstore, a supermarket, or being thrust into the faces of
\nmotorists stopped at any of Jakarta's intersections.<\/p>\n
Exhibition<\/p>\n
So why would art lovers be drawn to an exhibition of
\nlithographs?<\/p>\n
The \"Litho Madness\" exhibition now on at the Dutch cultural
\ncenter, Erasmus Huis, at Jl. HR Rasuna Said S-3, Kuningan,
\nanswers these questions.<\/p>\n
The exhibition of 35 lithographs and seven pen and ink
\ndrawings by Canadian artist Ken Pattern, which runs through Dec.
\n8, includes a display of photographs documenting the method of
\ncreating works of art with the lithographic process. And a video
\npresentation explaining the steps in the process provides an even
\nmore detailed look at why a lithographic print produced by an
\nartist can be defined as an original work of art.<\/p>\n
Ken Pattern, who is better known in Jakarta for the detailed
\npen and ink drawings he has produced of Jakarta's rapidly
\ndisappearing kampongs in the almost seven years he has lived in
\nIndonesia, says the opportunity to indulge heavily himself in
\ndrawing is what drew him to lithography in the first place.<\/p>\n
\"The strength of what I do is in drawing,\" Pattern said of his
\ninitial interest in leaning the technique of lithography. \"I saw
\nthat it was possible to repeat drawings with prints, while
\nmaintaining the quality.\"<\/p>\n
Real love<\/p>\n
Pattern, who graduated from high school in Canada in 1961, did
\nnot embark immediately upon a career in art due to concern it
\nwould be difficult to make a living in that field. Although he
\nhad been interested in drawing from the time he was a child, he
\nwould spend four years at university studying sociology before
\ncoming to the realization that his real love was art.<\/p>\n
He began drawing, painting and exhibiting. It was between his
\nfirst public exhibition at the Vancouver Public Library gallery
\nin 1978 and a second in 1979 that he discovered that lithography
\nwas an art form which could enable to make a living from his
\nartwork.<\/p>\n
\"Printmaking meant I could show in several galleries in
\ndifferent areas at the same time. I could achieve more exposure
\nand not be tied to one place,\" he told The Jakarta Post a few
\ndays before \"Litho Madness\" opened.<\/p>\n
In order to learn the technique, Pattern enrolled at the Emily
\nCarr College of Art and Design in Vancouver where he studied
\nprintmaking under Bob Evermon, a graduate of Tamarind Institute,
\nthe foremost school of lithography in the United States.<\/p>\n
During his introduction to the process, Pattern was to
\ndiscover that besides providing greater opportunity to display
\nhis works to a larger audience, printmaking would enable him to
\noffer affordable art to a larger number of people, many of whom
\nmight find his pen and ink drawings, which sell for as much as
\n2,800,000 apiece, too expensive.<\/p>\n
\"Printmaking is a democratic media. Unit cost is lower and
\nmore affordable, while a print is still original art,\" he said of
\nhis lithographic works.<\/p>\n
The lithographs on display during the current exhibition cost
\nfrom Rp 110,000 to Rp 765,000 per unframed piece and from Rp
\n175,000 to Rp 850,000 for framed works. All of the works on
\ndisplay are from series of 70 prints each.<\/p>\n
\"Lithography is a nice compromise of still producing original
\nart and art that is affordable by a larger number of people, that
\nreaches more people,\" Pattern said.<\/p>\n
Method<\/p>\n
Pattern produces this relatively more affordable art through
\nhours of painstaking concentration as he moves step by step
\nthrough a complicated and repetitive process.<\/p>\n
The first step Pattern takes toward producing a lithograph is
\nto \"grain\" a limestone slab. This involves grinding down the
\nsurface of the stone with a mixture of water and carborundum
\n(abrasive grit) and a stainless steel disk called a levigator.
\nMost lithography stones, which are 10 cm thick when new, come
\nfrom a quarry north of Munich, Germany.<\/p>\n
Then he selects a sketch he wants to transfer to the surface
\nof the stone for printing onto paper. Once this image is traced
\nonto the stone with a paper smeared with iron oxide powder and a
\nballpoint pen, Pattern begins to apply the basic principle \"water
\nand oil don't mix\" by drawing over the image left by the tracing
\nprocess with a litho (grease) pencil.<\/p>\n
Then the stone is prepared with rosen powder and talc, before
\nan \"etch\", a solution of gum arabic and nitric acid, is applied
\nto the segment of the stone with the image to enable the surface
\nto accept the application of ink.<\/p>\n
The chemical process resulting from the application of the
\netch permits the image area to accept oil-based ink and to repel
\nwater, while the rest of the stone repels the ink.<\/p>\n
Once the ink is applied, it is allowed to dry before more
\nrosen, talc and etch solution are applied. It is necessary to
\nrepeat this process several times in order to stabilize the image
\nbefore moving to the printing stage. The last etch application
\nremains on the stone until printing.<\/p>\n
Once this point has been reached, Pattern prints his
\nlithograph by pressing a piece of paper onto the stone which has
\nbeen rolled with ink, transferring the ink from the stone onto
\nthe paper with the use of a press.<\/p>\n
This process can take up to one month for a four-color
\nlithograph, with 40 to 60 hours of that time devoted to drawing.<\/p>",
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