From the Editor

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A journey may seem full of unpredicted happenstances, setbacks that call for improvisations but also moments of repose. The same can be said about existential circumstances that subject an individual to chances and factors beyond free will: where someone is born, how politics play out and which choices are at hand. A matter of coincidences. Who could have foreseen, for instance, that Robert Rauschenberg’s decision in 1960s New York to print from an imperfect matrix with an accidental crack would go on to spark creative impulses on the other side of Iron Curtain; that one factory worker’s compulsion to blur the line between painting and printmaking would influence an entire generation of artists raised under a regime that only tolerated Socialist Realist style; or that the Iron Curtain was not as sealed as initially designed, in that a number of ideas and artists could pass through. Still, many were barred on the inside, some also on the outside.

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~~Prints and Politics: The Mako Graphic Artists' Colony~~

By Krisztina Uveges

[4,204 words] Certain forms of expression burgeoned throughout the 1970s Hungarian cultural realm despite a political climate that restricted personal freedom. Within the small city of Mako, photography and industrial printing became the key munitions to arm a creative revolution: the Mako Graphic Artists’ Colony.

~~Tajtania's Architectural Illusions and Layered Memories~~

By Tatiana Potts

[732 words] Tajtania, an imaginary world erected of paper, draws from architectural forms to manifest an ideal realm. Conceived as a memory palace, it stores episodes from places once inhabited or visited, assembled for the viewer into multifaceted installations entwined with dimensional collages of drawings and printed paper structures. This phenomenological space exudes the aura of a city that will never be built yet has potential for continuous transformation.

~~Vladimir Boudnik and Czech Structural Printmaking~~

By Jiri Bernard Krticka

[2,732 words] Vladimir Boudnik developed a striking array of original printmaking methods that left a profound impact on an entire generation of artists living behind the Iron Curtain in Czechoslovakia. One method, structural printmaking, evolved into a phenomenon that challenges artists to search for unorthodox understandings of the materials as they go through the sequences of preparing plates.

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~~The Topography of Life: Janez Knez, a Printmaker~~

~~By Breda Skrjanec~~

[2,839 words] Colorist and landscape painter Janez Knez remained on the periphery of Slovenian art scenes as he crossed styles and media. His printmaking output yielded successful series in Socialist Realist manner along with lesser-known works characterized by pure visual symbolism. A central theme persisted: a study of man and landscape that demonstrates the artist’s deep connections to his everyday environment.

“I will keep changing my style, if only my health permits, for I know that I never waver internally during such decisive switches. Art is a challenge, an eternal quest. And an artist remains young as long as he has something to tell." Janez Knez

I can easily relate this quote to its late author, a light-hearted person whom I had the privilege to know. Knez was one of the first artists to donate prints as part of an effort to launch the International Centre of Graphic Arts in Ljubljana in 1986. When I took up the opportunity to survey his “paper” legacy, I was surprised by the abundance of drawings, sketches, studies and prints. The examination led me to unveil previously unknown images from his printmaking output along with entire editions, several of which are not even signed. I was similarly amazed by the breadth of auto-portraits executed in various media and styles as if the artist, who lingered on the margins of the Slovenian art hubs, had been holding up a mirror.

~~Jan Krizek's Prints as Two-Dimensional Sculptures~~

~~By Anna Pravdova~~

[2,313 words] On a spiritual journey for a cogent portrayal of man, Jan Krizek steered towards printmaking as he adapted sculptural principles into a two-dimensional medium. His lithographs and linocuts demonstrate the drive of an artist once active in the era of Parisian art brut.