'Safer Tropics', William Kentridge

Artwork details

Artist

William Kentridge (born 1955)

Title

Safer Tropics

From Sleeping on Glass

Date 1999

MediumEtching, aquatint and crayon on printed paper

Dimensionsimage: 216 x 292 mm

Collection

Tate

Acquisition Purchased 2001

Reference

P78565

View this artwork by appointment, at Tate Britain's Prints and Drawings Rooms

Summary

Sleeping on Glass is a portfolio of six etchings printed in an edition of sixty, of which this is number nineteen. It was printed and published by Caversham Press in Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa in collaboration with the artist. Like Kentridge’s series of lithographs Untitled (Baedecker Portfolio) 1999 (Tate P78560-2), the etchings were created by the chine collé or India proof method. This involves simultaneously printing on and mounting a thin sheet of paper onto a sturdier backing paper. The images in this series have been etched onto double page spreads from a selection of old books, with the result that every print in the edition is unique. Each double page is set onto white wove backing paper in a rectangular depression created by the impression of the etching plate. The title of each image has been added by hand in red crayon capital letters. The contents of these backing pages have subtle ironic resonances with the images and words superimposed on them… (read more)