Kenneth Tyler honoured at IPCNY

May 24, 2013 by Leave a comment

The IPCNY's spring benefit

Each year the International Print Center New York (IPCNY), an institution ‘dedicated to the appreciation and understanding of fine art prints’ holds a spring benefit honouring luminaries of the print world. This year art writer Faye Hirsch, artist Robert Mangold and master-printer Ken Tyler were the honourees celebrated at a function on May 15.

Frank Stella, Tyler’s long-time friend and collaborator, presented Tyler with his award and gave a presentation discussing Tyler’s unique printmaking career. These images were taken during the evening by  Liam Alexander for IPCNY.

Frank Stella talking about Ken Tyler's career at the IPCNY's spring benefit

Frank Stella discussing Ken Tyler’s career at the IPCNY’s spring benefit. On the screen is an image of Tyler at the Gemini Ltd studios in the 1960s.

Frank Stella & Ken Tyler embrace at IPCNY's spring benefit

Frank Stella and Ken Tyler embrace as Stella presents Tyler with his award.

Kenneth Tyler at IPCNY's spring benefit

Ken Tyler giving his acceptance speech at the IPCNY’s spring benefit. On screen is an image of an impression of Robert Motherwell’s Elegy study I lithograph being pulled at the Tyler Graphics Ltd studio in Mount Kisco.

You can read about Tyler and Stella’s working relationship here http://bit.ly/16XqoR0 in a lecture that Tyler gave last year when Stella was awarded the International Sculpture Center’s ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’.

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Screen printing in Alice Springs

April 30, 2013 by Leave a comment

Roy Lichtenstein: Pop remix

The National Gallery of Australia’s Roy Lichtenstein: Pop remix travelling exhibition opened at the Araluen Arts Centre on Saturday, April 27. In conjunction with the exhibition, Sydney based mural artist and printmaker Mini Graff conducted a screen printing workshop at Central Craft in Alice Springs.

 Creating a Benday dot stencil          The finished Benday dot stencil

ABOVE: punching out small circles to create a Benday dot effect stencil; the finished stencil

BELOW: Mini Graff (wearing hat) and workshop participants working at the lightbox

 Mini Graff (in hat) and workshop participants at the light box          Mini Graff (in hat) and workshop participants at the light box

Filed under Exhibitions, Galleries Tagged with , , , , ,

Behind the scenes: treatment of Robert Motherwell’s ‘El negro’

March 28, 2013 by Leave a comment

Robert Motherwell’s El negro recently made a trip to the National Gallery of Australia’s paper conservation department for some preventative treatment. We paid a visit to conservator Fiona Kemp to bring you these special behind-the-scenes shots of conservation in action!

You can read more about the making of El negro in the Tyler Graphics Ltd. print documentation here: http://nga.gov.au/internationalprints/tyler/pamphlets/TylerTGL/MotherwellNegro.pdf For more information on Motherwell and his work with Tyler, visit our website: http://nga.gov.au/internationalprints/tyler/DEFAULT.cfm?MnuID=2&ArtistIRN=22859&List=True

A page from the book at rest on the paper press Wearing gloves, Fiona moves the page from the press Spraying the pages to relax the paper fibres The pages looking pristine!

Filed under Artists, Behind-the-scenes, Tyler Graphics Ltd Tagged with , , , , , , ,

Ellsworth Kelly’s ‘Colored paper images’

February 27, 2013 by Leave a comment

Ellsworth Kelly Colored paper images II, V and X 1976, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra

The National Gallery of Art in Washington DC is currently showing Ellsworth Kelly’s Colored paper images, created with Kenneth Tyler at the Tyler Graphics workshop in Bedford Village in 1976. We thought this was an excellent reason to take a look at the series ourselves and to bring you some images from the candid photography collection. You can find out more about the National Gallery of Art’s exhibition here: http://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/kelly.shtm.

The Colored paper images project spanned eight months and resulted in 23 works made from coloured paper pulp, shaped using metal molds. The coloured shapes on white grounds are typical of Kelly’s abstract works; however the nature of paper pulp has created a blurring that is quite different to the sharp outlines seen in his paintings and other prints. The images below illustrate the investigative process involved in creating the series.

Ellsworth Kelly, Kenneth Tyler and John Koller working on the Colored paper images series at Tyler Graphics Ltd., Bedford Village, New York, 1976. Photographs by Betty Fiske

Tyler and Kelly worked with John and Kathleen Koller at the HMP paper mill to create over 50 different colours of paper pulp using numerous methods including powdered pigments, vinyl paint and water-based dyes. Kelly was interested in varying the colour fields in the final works and so deliberately adjusted the amount of colour bleeding and the consistency of pigment in several of the images. He also experimented with the development of the molds for his shapes using pliable metal. The resultant Colored paper images are sophisticated studies in colour and form; their mottled colour fields and blurred edges epitomise the subtleties of paper pulp.

Filed under Artists, Behind-the-scenes, Tyler Graphics Ltd Tagged with , , , , , , , ,

Kenneth Tyler AO

January 31, 2013 by 3 Comments

On January 23 2013, at the Embassy of Australia in Washington DC, the Honorable Kim Beazley AC conducted an Investiture Ceremony admitting Kenneth Tyler AO to the Order of Australia for service to the Arts, particularly through the Kenneth Tyler Collection here at the National Gallery of Australia and through philanthropy.

We are very pleased to be able to bring you these photographs from the ceremony, courtesy of the Australian Government:

The Hon Kim Beasley AC conducts the Investiture Ceremony for Kenneth Tyler AO

The Hon Kim Beazley AC conducts the Investiture Ceremony for Kenneth Tyler AO

The Hon Kim Beasley AC & Kenneth Tyler AO  The Hon Kim Beasley AC & Kenneth Tyler AO

The Hon Kim Beazley AC and Kenneth Tyler AO

Guests at the Investiture Ceremony for Kenneth Tyler AO

Guests at the Investiture Ceremony

Kenneth Tyler AO & Marabeth Cohen-Tyler

Kenneth Tyler AO and Marabeth Cohen-Tyler

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Happy 2013!

January 16, 2013 by 2 Comments

Robert Rauschenberg’s Horsefeathers thirteen series, 1972-76

Happy New Year to all! It seemed fitting to begin 2013 by taking a closer look at Robert Rauschenberg’s Horsefeathers thirteen series, which is currently on display here at the National Gallery of Australia.

Robert Rauschenberg, Horsefeathers thirteen - I, 1972 Robert Rauschenberg, Horsefeathers thirteen - II, 1972 Robert Rauschenberg, Horsefeathers thirteen - III, 1972 Robert Rauschenberg, Horsefeathers thirteen - IRobert Rauschenberg, Horsefeathers thirteen - IV, 1972 1972

Horsefeathers thirteen I-IV

Robert Rauschenberg was one of the first artists to work with Kenneth Tyler at Gemini GEL when it opened in 1966. Together the pair made several ambitious prints, including Booster, which – when it was printed in 1967 – was the largest lithograph ever editioned. The Horsefeathers thirteen series is another example of technical complexity: the series comprises sixteen works made using a complex mix of techniques, including lithography, screenprint, pochoir, collage and embossing.

80595 Robert Rauschenberg, Horsefeathers thirteen - VI, 1972 Robert Rauschenberg, Horsefeathers thirteen - VII, 1972 Robert Rauschenberg, Horsefeathers thirteen - VIII, 1972

Horsefeathers thirteen V-VIII

Rauschenberg consistently returned to collage in his art, and this method of working is demonstrated to great effect in the Horsefeathers thirteen series. In the series Rauschenberg engages us in a game of free association, tapping into our personal lived experience and creating a unique reaction in each viewer. Images from popular culture are juxtaposed with photographs of animals in the wild, newspaper clippings are combined with maps, and arrows draw our focus in several directions simultaneously.

You can read more about Rauschenberg’s work in Jaklyn Babington’s essay here: http://nga.gov.au/Rauschenberg/index.cfm

Robert Rauschenberg, Horsefeathers thirteen - IX, 1972 Robert Rauschenberg, Horsefeathers thirteen - X, 1972 Robert Rauschenberg, Horsefeathers thirteen - XI, 1972 Robert Rauschenberg, Horsefeathers thirteen - XII, 1972

Horsefeathers thirteen IX-XII

We look forward to bringing you more from the Tyler collection in 2013. Remember, if you have particular questions – or just want to know more about a favourite artist or artwork – you can get in touch with us by commenting here on the blog, or via our Facebook and Twitter accounts.

Robert Rauschenberg, Horsefeathers thirteen - XIII, 1972 Robert Rauschenberg, Horsefeathers thirteen - XIV, 1972 Robert Rauschenberg, Horsefeathers thirteen - XV, 1972 Robert Rauschenberg, Horsefeathers thirteen - XVI, 1972

Horsefeathers thirteen XIII-XIV

The Horsefeathers thirteen series will be on display until March – make sure you don’t miss it!

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Season’s greetings!

December 21, 2012 by 2 Comments

Merry Christmas!!

2012 has been a big year for the National Gallery’s Tyler Collection. We have learned the exciting news that Kenneth Tyler will be made an Honorary Officer of the Order of Australia at an investiture ceremony in Washington DC on January 23, 2013. Ken has been nominated for this well-deserved honour for his ‘service to the Arts, particularly through the Kenneth Tyler Collection at the National Gallery of Australia and through philanthropy.’

In April the Roy Lichtenstein: Pop remix show started its national tour at the Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery, and headed to the Queensland University Art Museum in Brisbane in late June. The fantastic catalogue that accompanies the show, written by curator Jaklyn Babington and designed by Carla Da Silva, won a Printing Industries Craftmanship Award in November.

Roy Lichtenstein: Pop remix

Jaklyn Babington’s award winning catalogue

Throughout the year, works from the Tyler Collection featured prominently in the Gallery’s changing displays of international art, with series by Jasper Johns, Richard Serra and David Hockney shown in the Pop and Contemporary galleries. Bruce Nauman’s Pay attention – which inspired Tony Albert’s work of the same name – was hung at the entrance to unDISCLOSED the second National Indigenous Art Triennial, and several works by Tyler artists are featured in the Word pictures exhibition currently on display in the Children’s Gallery.

We continued to build the collection’s web presence, launching a new look collection website and creating a Facebook account to reach a broader audience. Assistant Curator Emilie Owens attended the Museums Australia national conference, aptly themed ‘research and collections in a connected world’. Her reflections on the conference can be found in the current issue of IMPRINT magazine.

A particularly exciting development on the web-front is the new Tyler Graphics Ltd ‘Team’ page. The page gives printers and workshop staff who worked with Tyler in his various workshops an opportunity to share their experiences and give readers another perspective on the printmaking process.

The year also occasioned reflection and sadness as it marked the passing of three great artists featured in the collection, namely Ken Price, Paul Jenkins and Maurice Sendak. Robert Hughes, one of the key figures in the early acquisition of Tyler’s prints for the NGA, also passed away.

We wish you all a safe and happy festive season, and look forward to bringing you more from the Tyler Collection in 2013.

Try and have a merry christmas this year! David Hockney

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