exhibition
March 2024
Live Editions & Life In Print
5 April - 29 December 2024
Remai Modern,
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
April - August
Live Editions, with Jillian Ross Print (JRP), will have two printing presses installed in an exhibition space at Remai Modern, a public art museum based in Saskatoon. In a working print studio environment, JRP will showcase the editioning of their latest collaboration with William Kentridge from, The Great Yes, The Great No, the University of Alberta, Department of Art and Design in Edmonton, Canada, Cone Editions in Vermont, USA, the David Krut Workshop in Johannesburg, South Africa and Remai Modern in Saskatoon. This newest, and as yet unpublished, series of work comprises four large-scale and highly complex photogravure prints made from more than 30 printing plates.
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With JRP’s studio installed in Remai Modern’s Connect Gallery, this presentation will also explore and celebrate the significance of Ross's last three years of work as a collaborative printmaker since moving back to her home town of Saskatoon from Johannesburg in 2020, and her continued collaboration with Kentridge.
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The presentation will feature and exhibition of over 40 prints that are in various states of completion showing an audience how a print is developed from the 'first pull' to the 'final state'. Prints included in the presentation are drawn from Kentridge’s Studio Life Gravures (2020 - 2022) series, created in response to the COVID lockdown and prints made from the on-going project, The Great Yes, The Great No (2023-2024), a theatrical performance about a boat that travels from Marseilles to Martinique.
Live Editions
Throughout the duration of the presentation, utilizing two printing presses, JRP will be editioning new prints. A visiting audience will be welcomed into their studio-gallery to watch the printing process and will be encouraged to ask questions of the printers and studio guides. The presentation program will be accompanied with studio tours, a talks program and workshops that relate to the making of prints in a collaborative print studio with an emphasis on Kentridge’s collaborative approach to working.
From May 2024, the presentation will be complemented in Remai Modern's Picasso Gallery by an exhibition of linocut prints from an earlier collaboration, The Universal Archive (2011-2015), between Kentridge and Master Printer Jillian Ross whilst she was the director of the David Krut Workshop. Life in Print - William Kentridge and Pablo Picasso draws from Remai Modern's Picasso archive and is a conversation that will explore the creative processes of these two prolific artists. Listen to Ross explain how some of these linocuts were made.
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'Remai Modern houses the most comprehensive collection of linocuts by Pablo Picasso (1881-1973). This focused and specialized collection includes editioned prints, working states and experimental proofs that provide insight into the artist’s process—a rare glimpse into one of the 20th century’s most prolific and innovative artists. All of Picasso’s linocuts were produced in a 17-year period between 1951 and 1968, with his master printer, Hidalgo Arnera (1922-2007). With Arnera’s expertise and support, the artist worked hands-on to understand, and push, the limits and possibilities of printmaking, much like the printer / artist collaboration between Ross and Kentridge.' - Remai Modern
May - December
Life in Print -
William Kentridge and Pablo Picasso
Exhibition Program 2024 - to be expanded as the programs are formalised.
5 April 19:00 Live Editions studio presentation opens and studio party
6 April 14:00 Studio tour with Jillian Ross
9 May 19:00 Life in Print - William Kentridge and Pablo Picasso
3 July - 12 August William Kentridge Slade Lectures at Remai Modern
17 July - July 28 Wally Dion in residence at Remai Modern
20 July Wally Dion artist talk at Remai Modern
11 August Live Editions studio presentation closes
28 / 29 September Contemporary Printmaking Gathering 2024
29 December Life in Print - William Kentridge and Pablo Picasso
exhibition closes
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Studio hours & Getting there
Wednesdays 10:00 - 17:00
Thursdays 10:00 - 21:00
Fridays 10:00 - 21:00
Saturdays 10:00 - 17:00
Sundays 10:00 - 17:00
Drop-in to see us.
If you're making a special trip, email us in advance.
William Kentridge, in his studio in Johannesburg, working on a drawing, There Were No Books, that forms part of The Great Yes, The Great No.
This mixed media artwork was later photographed and made into photogravure plates at the University of Alberta. These photogravure plates form the basis on which the The Great Yes, The Great No prints are made and editioned at the Remai Modern.
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June - July
Wally Dion in residence
July 17 - July 28
During the summer of 2024, Ross will demonstrate how a collaborative workshop meets the challenges of working with multiple artists and different printers on simultaneous projects. Whist editioning prints from the newest Kentridge project, The Great Yes, The Great No, Ross will be producing new works with Saskatchewan artist Wally Dion via an intensive two-week in-gallery residency.
'JRP began working with Dion in 2022 on Dion's first delve into printmaking with the making of Prairie Braids. Ross and Dion will showcase the collaborative, experimental and technical aspects of developing a print together in-studio. Here Dion will be challenged to culminate his diverse practice which includes drawing, painting, sculpture and textile into contemporary printmaking.'
- Remai Modern
'Using a small portable propane forge, Dion melts down recycled bullet shells into molten brass and then casts frames directly in the soil. The location for these earth-casting projects is specific: sites/regions where acts of violence towards Indigenous peoples have occurred in the past.The first takes place in Saskatoon’s Starlight Tours
district, a rural area where Saskatoon Police were leaving Indigenous people to “walk it off” in -30°C winter conditions, essentially amounting to murder by hypothermia.'
- Remai Modern
'The source image for Prairie Braids belongs to a larger group of portraiture work from 2019. The figure in these prints can be any gender and, to some extent, any ethnicity. A prairie lily, the provincial flower of Saskatchewan, is embroidered into the back of the shirt. In this print, the individual has turned their back towards the viewer, referencing Indigenous-settler relations in the Saskatchewan judicial system. Braids, though not explicitly belonging to them, are culturally and visually woven into Indigenous cultures; thus, we may assume the individual portrayed is Indigenous. For the artist, braids represent strength, culture, and spirituality. Combing and braiding hair implies care, companionship, and skill. Hair has long been a battle ground for the church and settler power structures. In this way, length of hair and braiding have become acts of resistance for Indigenous people. Bullseyes are embossed into some of the prints, referencing gun violence towards Indigenous people.' - Remai Modern
Wally Dion
Prairie Braids and red Prairie Braids embossed
Saskatoon frame (pour no. 1 & 2)
2023
Print: photogravure on chine collé. Frame: recycled brass, anodized aluminum
Remai Modern presents William Kentridge’s latest lecture series, A Natural History of the Studio, in conjunction with the exhibitions Live Editions: Jillian Ross Print and Life in Print: William Kentridge and Pablo Picasso.
These lectures are significant to understanding Kentridge’s multi-disciplinary practice as he dissects the creative process in his studio. The Slade Lectures include examples of animation, musical performances, and the artist narrating as a conductor. In the third and fifth lectures, Kentridge shares insight from the making of some of his most monumental projects such as the ephemeral frieze Triumphs and Laments and his operatic project Sibyl. Footage from his recently released episodic film series, Self-Portrait As A Coffee Pot, meanders throughout the lectures, as do animated ink drawings on dictionary pages, recognizable imagery from the Universal Archive series.
These lectures were recorded at the University of Oxford in 2024 while William Kentridge was the Slade Professor of Fine Art at the institution.
July - August
William Kentridge
Slade Lectures
3 July - 12 August
Remai Modern will present a series of talks, panel discussions and workshops that highlight the collaborative nature of printmaking and the innovations taking place in the medium.
Contemporary Printmaking Gathering 2024 takes place on September 28 and 29, 2024 at Remai Modern and the University of Saskatchewan.
Drawing inspiration from Remai Modern’s near-comprehensive holdings of Pablo Picasso’s linocuts, the program will highlight his work in printmaking, his innovations in the medium, and his collaborations with Master Printer Hildalgo Arnera. The gathering coincides with the exhibition Life in Print: Pablo Picasso and William Kentridge and, in the context of this exhibition, themes of William Kentridge’s work and his collaborations with Master Printer Jillian Ross will be also included.
The gathering will culminate on Sunday evening with a keynote address by Fredrick Mulder as part of the Mendel International Lecture series.
September
Contemporary Printmaking
Gathering 2024
28 and 29 September
A special thank you to Remai Modern and to Creative Saskatchewan for their support on this project which forms part of their commitment to the arts and
to the local arts community in Saskatchewan.
This project would not have been possible without our project partners,
the Kentridge Studio, the University of Alberta, Department of Art and Design
and the David Krut Workshop.
The photographs below are working process photographs of prints prints being developed. These prints and others will be presented at Remai Modern in the Connect Gallery from April to August 2024.
Photographs
DKW printers, Jillian Ross and William Kentridge working on the large scale print from The Great Yes, The Great No at Kentridge's studio at Arts on Main in Johannesburg.
- October 2023
A walk through of the presentation at Remai Modern in Saskatoon, showing the exhibition of prints from Studio Life Gravures series and JRP's temporary studio installation with prints from The Great Yes, The Great No.
- May 2024
Exhibition photographs
Live Editions : Jillian Ross Print
April 5 - August 11, 2024
Jillian Ross (b.1978, Edmonton)
Jillian Ross is a Canadian collaborative printmaker who began working with William Kentridge in 2006 whilst working as a master printer and director at the David Krut Workshop (DKW) in Johannesburg. Working together for the last 17 years, Ross and Kentridge have produced over 190 prints together. Ross now continues her collaborations from her Saskatoon studio - Jillian Ross Print (JRP).
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William Kentridge (b.1955, Johannesburg, South Africa)
'William Kentridge is internationally acclaimed for his drawings, films, theatre and opera productions. His method combines drawing, writing, film, performance, music, theatre, and collaborative practices in print, sculpture and tapestry, to create works of art that are grounded in politics, science, literature and history, yet maintaining a space for contradiction and uncertainty.' - Kentridge Studio
Wally Dion (b.1976, Saskatoon)
Wally Dion is a Saskatoon-born artist of Yellow Quill First Nation (Saulteaux) ancestry living and working in Upstate New York. Throughout much of his career, Dion’s work has contributed to a broad conversation in the art world about identity & power and can be interpreted as part of a much larger pan-American struggle by Indigenous Peoples to be recognized culturally, economically, and politically by settler societies. Dion works in a number of media including painting, drawing, site specific installations and sculpture as both representational and abstract geometric works. Dion was recently nominated for a Sobey Award for 2023 amongst other accolades.
Biography
Credits
Exhibition
Remai Modern, Saskatoon, Canada
Curators
Michelle Jacques, Chief Curator, Head of Exhibitions and Collections.
Bevin Bradley, Assistant Curator
With Support
Frank & Ellen Remai Foundation
City of Saskatoon
Canada Council for the Arts
Sk Arts
Sask Lotteries
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Print Publisher
Jillian Ross Print, Saskatoon, Canada
Jillian Ross
Brendan Copestake
David Krut Projects, Johannesburg South Africa
David Krut
Amé Bell
Collaborating Printer
Jillian Ross
Photogravure
University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada
Steven Dixon, Luke Johnson
Warren Editions, Cape Town South Africa
Zhané Warren
Photopolymer
Cone Editions, Vermont, USA
Nathanael Kooperkamp
Editioning and image development
Jillian Ross Print
David Krut Workshop
Editioning printers Johannesburg
Jillian Ross
Sbongiseni Khulu
Kim-Lee Loggenberg-Tim
Sarah Judge
Roxy Kaczmarck
Jesse Shepstone
Brendan Copestake
Editioning printers Saskatoon
Jillian Ross
Luke Johnson
Alex Thompson
Sarah Madgin
Marketa Holtebrinck
Kelsey Pavier
Marcel Houston-McIntosh (intern)
Hannah Duke (intern)
Nasibeh Nasibi (intern)
This project is supported by Creative Saskatchewan's
​Craft and Visual Arts Production Grant Program