Wer auch immer
2008
With 34 rotogravures, hand-tinted by the artist. Printed by Christina and Peter Rall, Handpresse in Zurich
and Beuzec-Cap-Sizun (France) on Awara Japanese tissue paper, 45 g/m².
The sheets inside the book consist of white BFK Rives paper, 195 g/m², unlaid, 100% rag. The layout and hand-made
binding painted in oils by the artist, 37 x 29 cm, 44 pages were produced in the Atelier für Grafik-,
Foto- und Schriftgutrestaurierung Michael Rothe, Bern. Text collage by Tony Frey. The text was silk-screen printed
by Eric Stuhlmann, Bern.
Print run of 25 numbered copies. Five additional artist's copies not intended for sale carry the numbers EA I-V.
An edition with 6 rotogravures was produced in connection with the artist's book.
Every book is a unique opportunity.
When Michael Rothe contacted me, I could not imagine what the project would involve. One thing soon became clear: the illustrations would have to form a single entity in order to appear as a whole. Various series were possibilities. The decision to use work from the 1980s was not an easy one for me, and was reached only after much consideration and reflection. The faces were produced during what to me was an existentialist time of decision-making as to whether I would continue to work as an artist. The faces dating from 1983 and the 1991 work entitled "Portrait" were separated by a long process of becoming aware and differentiating. As one of my first more comprehensive and consistent series, they have retained the freshness of a new awakening as well as their inherent strength.
But how do you translate an earlier series into a present-day project? We asked Atelier Handpresse in Zurich to make rotogravure prints of the pictures, with excellent results. I then coloured each individual page by hand. There was no obvious order for the pages, which means that in this respect each book is unique.
Tony Frey added the words.
My thanks go to Michael Rothe for his patience and generous support, as well as to Christina and Peter Rall for their uncompromising commitment and Tony Frey for his sympathetic words.
Alois Lichtsteiner