Ex-Libris - Alphonse Inoue

Recently I have stumbled upon the amazing ex-libris of Alphonse Inoue, an enigmatic japanese artist.
Sadly, little is known about him, but his beautiful yet disturbing ex-libris speak for themselves: in Inoue's world ball-jointed dolls and young women alike indulge in slightly unsafe sex practices, death seduces life, pretty girls lose their innocence to mythological creatures and wild animals.
In the background nature stands still, and delicate botanica, motionless bodies of water and silent villages reminiscent of 1500's etchings are the only quiet observers of the lasciviousness happening in front of them.
The choice of using chalcography instead of xylography, the preferred technique for japanese ex-libris, indicates a western influence, and so does his subdued erotism, tastefully explicit and never obscene, so different from the boldness of shunga prints, but the roots of his art lie in japanese culture, as one can notice from the omnipresent dualism, typical of taoist Japan, of death versus life.
Although the web lacks any kind of information about his biography, this site offers a quite extensive gallery of Inoue's works.

Exhibition - Hatching: Crossing The Line

I am proud to be part of Hatching: Crossing The Line, a printmaking exhibition organized by Guerilla Galleries.
The title of the show refers to the term hatching, an artistic technique used to create shading effects by drawing closely spaced parallel lines, especially important in linear media, such as many forms of printmaking.
I am participating with three pieces: The Fate, and an aquatint and a drypoint that I will share with you soon.

The Fate

At some point of my artistic career I found out I loved printmaking.
I started collecting books and, more recently, prints, of my favourite printmaking artists, such as Max Klinger, Alfred Kubin and Odilon Redon, but I never had the chance to experiment with it until last year, when I finally had access to an etching press thanks to my friend and fellow artist and printmaker Santy.
My first prints were aquatints and etchings, but lately I have been enjoying creating drypoints on acrylic and copper plates.

 The Fate, original drypoint print from a limited edition of 15, 2010.
Hand printed on Hahnemühle 300 gsm paper.
Numbered and signed by the artist.
Dimensions: 26 x 34 cm / 10,23 x 13,38 inch, printed area 19 x 24,5 cm / 7,48 x 9,64 inch.

The Fate is my first drypoint.
The allegorical representation of the bells is one of my favourite subjects for my paintings, but this time it is heavily inspired by flemish master etchers, especially Pieter Bruegel and his plates made by Hieronymus Cock.
You can find it in our Etsy shop, PRESSURESCAPES, or you can just contact us if you do not have an Etsy account.

Introduction

PRESSURESCAPES is a collaboration between two italian-based artists, El Gato Chimney and Emma Malic.
For us, printmaking is not a minor form of art that should be forgotten in the era of digital prints: our goal is to combine our contemporary aestethics with our love of drypoint and etching.
We strongly believe that art should be sold at popular prices and that non-toxic printmaking methods should always be preferred.
We hope you will enjoy our prints at least as much as we enjoy creating them and we look forward to meeting similar-minded artists willing to collaborate and share their thoughts with us.