tate modern?

Think of them as an installation.

I went up to the curwen studio today to collect one of these prints.
Have to say they are a truly fantastic studio, and nice people too!
This is at the Tate Britain until january i think, along with a some sketches and other stuff from the curwen studio celebrating their 50th year.

I didn't fancy chancing this print with royal mail (understandably) so asked if i could collect when i purchased and was told no problem, come along and we'll give you a little tour of the studio and explain how this print was put together.
nice.

When i arrived i was introduced to their master printer who showed me a drawer full of these beauties before walking me around the studio explaining what all the different presses they had there were used for.
One of the other staff was exposing a plate while we were there so he talked us through the process and then we watched as it was washed down then put in the drier.
There was another guy printing on one of the two large lithographic presses that were used for this micallef piece so we could see exactly what goes into making a print this way. After each pass the plate is wet with an old sponge and checked, then inked (if needed), then the roller is passed over it and back onto the paper. He said they always print more than double the final run amount so they can hand pick the most exact copies for the final numbered edition.
This micallef is made up of 14 individual plates.
All but one were hand drawn by mr micallef in the print studio in response to how his original drawing of the bridge and gherkin/swiss re went onto the paper as the first layer of ink.
As each new layer was made the existing ones were tweaked then re-proofed etc.
This process took 4 whole days.
There was a drawer full of test prints showing how different bits were added/changed as the run progressed, as well as lots of his original sketches that were used as part of the final composition.
There was even a folder containing all of the original drawings and some small oil paintings that were used in this piece that were waiting to be collected by the artist for him to keep.

Was an absolute privilege to see, smell (and touch!) all these items. Pieces that may never see the light of day again, or might end up featuring in some future piece?
Never before have i had such an insight into a print or piece of art that i own and it was great to see that craftsmanship of this kind still exists, and the results that are possible.

I asked what was to happen to all of the sketches and plates used in the production and was told that once the edition has been sent out completely they are all scratched, then torn, and then destroyed, or recycled in the case of the aluminium printing plates.
The master printer told me it was a devastating part of his job doing this, especially in the case of this micallef print, and that rarely do artists work so closely with the printers in this way.
But he said it was necessary to protect the integrity of the editionn and also to make sure they didn't end up on ebay!

After the tour he also showed me some original 60's limestones that were old lithographic plates used before the technology of light exposure on to the aluminium, one of which had rolf harris on, and also let us browse through the drying racks of stuff they'd recently printed.
Interestingly there was a micallef peacekeeper print on the drying rack...
He said it was there because they were having to do some re-prints of the edition.
I wish i hadn't seen this because i'm now thinking of how i can afford to get one....!

Haven't yet unrolled my print but when its nice and safely flattened out i'll get some close ups photos of bits i remember seeing that were changed through the process and then try to explain the changes.

cheers Ron.
forgot to mention that they also sorted me out with the edition number of my choice.
Good people indeed!

I shall do amigo!
Just got to find some cash then its off to the framers!!

Great story re your tour of the printers. An experience like that will add so much more to your enjoyment of the print as you know exactly what went into making it

Great post themightyreds. Be nice to see one framed better than that crap frame at the tate.

cheers bram.

I'm undecided about the framing on this. Usually i play it safe and use a white box frame with white mount but feel this print deserves a bit more of a custom frame-job.
I have a large ornate frame (currently gold with an Applause in) that i might use for this.
Was thinking about getting it sprayed a deep, dark grey and using a black mount board to float the print on. It isn't deckle-edged (apparently micallef prefers his prints trimmed), but the imagery goes up to and off the edges of the paper so i don't think window mounting is an option for it.
Either way i need to save to get it done as this plus a couple of other bits recently has totally cleaned me out!

I was told it was a reprint.
It was by no means in perfect, or perhaps even a sale-able condition as it had bends imprinted from the drying rack, plus some comments marked on it in pencil and was on an un-trimmed sheet.
Still looked fantastic to me though!