Arturo Herrera

Arturo Herrera (b. 1959), Venezuelan-born and based in New York and Berlin, combines Modernist abstraction and images taken from popular culture in a practice that includes collage, wall paintings, mixed media sculptures, cut-outs and photography. He has exhibited nationally and internationally including at P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center, the Hammer Museum, the Art Institute of Chicago, Sikkema Jenkins & Co., the Centre d’Art Contemporarain, Geneva, the Istanbul Biennial, and the Centro Galego de Arte Contemporánea, Santiago, Spain.

F&G

The impetus for this limited edition print, F&G, was Mozart’s opera buffa in two acts, Così fan tutte, ossia La scuola degli amanti, (Women are like that, or The School for Lovers), first performed on January 26, 1790, in Vienna, Austria. Two officers, Ferrando and Guglielmo, engage in a wager to prove that their lovers will remain faithful while they are away at battle.

Herrera creates tension between both sides through energetic movement and a powerful chromatic composition of primary colors. In collaboration with Graphicstudio printers, Herrera produced a screenprint characterized by rich, saturated hues; biomorphic, abstracted shapes and lines; and an all-over sense of movement that reflects the emotions and conflicting thoughts of both protagonists. The key technical considerations involved achieving a delicate balance between the printed red and blue inks, their relationship to the stark brightness of the paper, and the challenge of razor-sharp registration split between the right and the left sides. 

Mirror

The inspiration for his Graphicstudio limited edition print, Mirror, was a large-scale wall painting exhibited at FELD+HAUS, Berlin in 2022. Herrera’s wall painting references the island location of FELD+HAUS in the Moabit neighborhood of Berlin. Arturo Herrera collaborated with the Graphicstudio printers to produce a screenprint using saturated colors, sharp graphics, and flat ink. The critical aesthetic considerations were to obtain the delicate balance between the printed grey and blue inks, their relationship to the stark brightness of the paper, and the technical challenge of razor-sharp registration.

Front

Cyanotype, a photographic printmaking process first invented in 1841 and commonly used for architectural blueprint drawings, appealed to Herrera for this experimental print, Front. He snapped 35mm photos of some of his existing works, and manipulated the film by pouring coffee and other liquids on it and placing it in the freezer; the results are enigmatic, accidental versions of his work in soulful deep blue tones.

Fetch

In Fetch, Herrera painted acid directly on copper plates in a technique called spitbite, to create a suite of six etchings. The sensual and spare images are uniquely gestural and playful, evocative and suggestive. Fully in the spirit of the artist’s work, they call upon memory and the unconscious for meaning.

 

Printmaking + Sculpture Terms

Printmaking Glossary

Sculpture Glossary

Sales

For sales, or more information about an edition, please contact Graphicstudio at (813) 974-3503 or gsoffice@usf.edu.

Copyright + Reproduction

Images of the artwork are jointly owned by the artist and Graphicstudio. Reproduction of any kind including electronic media must be expressly approved by Graphicstudio.