Publisher's Synopsis
In the past, prints were merely reproductions of an original artwork. Artists such as Shepard Fairey, Faile, and Swoon have changed that and established limited edition prints as a bona fide art form. Limited series have opened up the art market to a new generation of potential buyers and collectors. In the past, artists created a single original piece of art, which they sometimes duplicated in a series of graphic reproductions. Today, young artists are taking a different approach by conceiving and producing their art as a series from the outset. They then sell their multiples to their supporters and collectors via galleries and the internet. Whether done as limited editions, pasteups, stencils, or stickers for an indoor or outdoor space, these visual formats all stem from the same point of origin-the centuries-old tradition of printmaking. In Limited Edition Prints, curator Pedro Alonzo explores the current evolution of this tradition and its political dimension. He describes how saying farewell to originals and the aura that surrounds them has made art accessible to a new clientele and the art market a bit more democratic. The aforementioned methods of duplication are especially prevalent in street art Urban interventions and motifs that appear overnight, including the Obey Giant image that has been copied throughout the world, ushered in a new era for these printmaking techniques that bring art and its viewers closer together. As these omnipresent images have gone viral online, street art blogs and forums have served as valuable channels of direct feedback Artists such as Shepard Fairey, Faile, Swoon, or Banksy and companies such as Pictures on Walls, Paper Monster, Obey, Pace Prints, Iconoclast Editions, and Kaikai Kiki have facilitated and catalyzed this process. Limited Edition Prints introduces this movement's most influential protagonists and artists and showcases exemplary multiples. Essays by Pedro Alonzo and art historian Lara Bullock explore serial works in relation to one-of-a-kind pieces and the interconnection between artwork made for interior and exterior spaces. Featured artists: Shepard Fairey, Faile, How and Nosm, Swoon, Banksy, Bäst, Momo, Borf, JR, Blek le Rat, Ben Eine, Judith Supine, Takashi Murakami, Yoshitomo Nara, Chiho Aoshima, Dalek, Yescka, Lapiztola, Barry McGee, Kaws, Kozyndan, Paul Insect, Stephen Powers, Todd James, Blu, Invader, Ryan McGinness.
