A Universal Archive: William Kentridge as Printmaker

South African artist William Kentridge (born 1955) is internationally acclaimed for his drawings, films, and theatre and opera productions. He is also an innovative and prolific printmaker--of etchings, engravings, aquatints, silkscreens, linocuts and lithographs--often experimenting with challenging formats and combinations of printing techniques to create highly worked, intensely atmospheric imagery. His prints range in scale from intimate etchings and drypoints to linocuts on rice paper and canvas measuring over eight feet high and are reproduced on a variety of materials, a tactile approach which is echoed in the design and production of this volume. This unique and beautifully presented book includes almost 100 prints from 1988 to the present, with a stress on experimental, collaborative and serial works. Kentridge´s distinctive use of light and shadow and silhouettes, his concern with memory and perspective, and his absorption in literary texts are all strongly in evidence throughout this book, which provides new insights into the working methods of this prolific artist.