Silkscreen

Glitter and nostalgia unite a pair of limited edition prints by Mickalene Thomas. In Portrait of Maya #10, a muse exudes power from above in a striking pose. In Interior: Red Couch and Landscape, the artist draws us into a nostalgic living space with a previously unseen collage. “Collage is how I draw and see, create form and composition. It's a defining moment of learning, unlearning and redefining the concepts and images in my work.”© Mickalene Thomas, 2024, courtesy of the Artist

A vase of flowers becomes a vessel for colour, line and shape in a print by Eddie Martinez.Martinez channels frenetic energy first through quick drawings in his sketchbook, and later as bold brushstrokes on canvas. He prefers the image to reveal itself. Rather than embedding a specific message, meanings are left open for others to imagine.Scaffold is full of power and life, in keeping with the artist's rhythmic, dance-like approach to making art. The strong colours and sharp contrast of his original painting have been maintained in the edition with a precisely calibrated base print, three bespoke silkscreen layers and a matte varnish seal.

A limited edition print by Peter Halley probes the limits of printmaking.Peter Halley's paintings are instantly recognisable. Fluorescent hues, rectilinear forms and industrial materials come together in compositions inspired by the rigid structures of society.For Rising High II, the ‘cells and conduits’ from one of Halley’s paintings became a playground for printmakers at Make-Ready in London – building on the process devised by Lamina Studios for Galaxia II. Working in close collaboration with the artist, each colour and shape was isolated in a series of stacked, die cut layers.Silkscreen overprints including metallic shimmer, glitter, gloss varnish and gold leaf bring each element to life. Once assembled the layers create an intricate, 3-dimensional surface.

SPAM takes flight in a print by Ed Ruscha.Ed Ruscha painted Actual Size in 1962 at a similar time to sonic, one word paintings like Oof, Smash and Honk. In its use of a household brand, Actual Size also draws connections with everyday consumerism and with Ruscha's larger scale appropriations, like the Hollywood sign.The painting brings to life “SPAM in a can” – a phrase coined by journalists to describe astronauts sent to space in self-piloting rockets. Its title is lifted from the world of advertising, circling the true-to-life dimensions of its flying subject. These layers speak to Ruscha’s flair for dual meanings and deadpan humour. Actual Size plays an important part in the history of both Pop Art and Conceptual Art, propelling it to become one of Ruscha’s most iconic paintings. To coincide with a retrospective at LACMA, it has been transformed into a limited edition print. Proceeds will support the museum’s future.

George Condo warps time and identity in a melodramatic portrait.Lost in Time channels the decadent stylings of Dutch masters through a perverse contemporary lens. Sat alone in the dark, Condo spotlights his unmistakably American subject – gaudy shirt, cigarette smoke wafting – with traditional chiaroscuro techniques. Looking back over his shoulder, the figure’s angular, cartoonish appearance carries a disarmingly human demeanour.“The cartoon is a very bizarre weapon against the intellectual concept of what supposedly high art culture is all about.”One of three limited edition prints launched in support of Dia Art Foundation, Condo’s painting has been meticulously translated into a 22 colour silkscreen in close collaboration with artisan printmakers at Make-Ready in London.

George Condo re-configures emotion with a portrait spanning multiple planes.Emblematic of Condo’s unique take on Cubism and figurative painting, Prismatic Head Composition establishes a paradoxical bond between the beautiful and unsightly. Visibly disconcerted, his figure grapples with familiar and alien feelings – all at once. Eyes sit lopsided on a contorted face above multiple sets of teeth, posing the question of how many personalities are at play within a singular subject.“My work finds a way to represent the human consciousness through portrait. That portrait could represent what’s not only the exterior appearance of that person but what’s going through their mind.”One of three limited edition prints launched in support of Dia Art Foundation, Condo’s painting has been meticulously translated into a 21 colour silkscreen in close collaboration with artisan printmakers at Make-Ready in London.

George Condo offers an unsettling glimpse into the realities of the human psyche.Absurd yet familiar, Portrait And Head portrays intangible emotional states. Condo stylistically reconfigures techniques from 20th Century masters including Picasso and de Kooning, describing his sampling as ‘Psychological Cubism’. The portrait obscures human features amongst geometric gestures, cementing a multidimensional perspective on human emotion.“Picasso painted a violin from four different perspectives at one time. I do the same with psychological states. Four of them can occur simultaneously. Like glimpsing a bus with one passenger howling over a joke they’re hearing down the phone, someone else asleep, someone else crying.”One of three limited edition prints launched in support of Dia Art Foundation, Condo’s painting has been meticulously translated into a 33 colour silkscreen in close collaboration with artisan printmakers at Make-Ready in London.

An enchanting vision of Manhattan at dusk from the world of Laura El.Illustrations by Laura El draw inspiration from the familiar streets of New York City. If they feel lifted from a storybook, they might be. El is also an author.Park Ave bathes a brownstone streetscape in the warm glow of sunset. Leaves tumble gently as a figure strolls past with their dog. Drawn in 20,000 strokes across 200 layers, El’s digital illustration has been transformed carefully into a limited edition print with phosphorescent details and glossy varnish highlights.“It’s an outwardly peaceful morning walk, but there's an undeniable New York City rush hidden within it. The windows, reflecting light during the day and glowing in the darkness, add a dynamic quality that I've never found in any of my physical artworks before.”

Soft pink silkscreen prints signal new possibilities in the world of LUV.Earlier this year at her Living with LUV show in London, LY debuted a single artwork unlike anything she had painted before. In a room full of greyscale, warm pink hues brought new life to her amorphous wandering muse.The change was inspired in part by the artist’s daughter, and the colourful perspective she has introduced to family life in Tokyo. “Since becoming a mother, everyday is a surprise and a new discovery.”Printmakers identified and replicated each carefully-chosen shade to create a 21 colour silkscreen, printed in 42 layers at Make-Ready in London.

Christian Rex van Minnen probes the thresholds of reality with his second time-limited print.Rainbow Bridge is based on the artist’s new series of trompe l’œil portal paintings, first exhibited in his solo exhibition La Luz Atrapada at Veta Galeria in November 2023. The catalyst? A question posed by his son – “Dad, why don’t you paint something beautiful today?” While the series marks a new direction for van Minnen's practice, the amalgamation of influences contained in his hyperreal marble niches and bubbling still life bouquets are consistent. Before painting the series he studied the compositions of Dutch Master Ambrosius Bosschaert, breaking them down to create his own formula.The title refers to a theory describing the connection between our inner selves and different levels of consciousness. Van Minnen's interpretation consists of 3 essential elements: an open-stone niche, the sky and a still life arrangement – symbolising the self, the heavens and phenomena of the eye.The edition will be printed at Make-Ready in London after the 24 hour launch window ends and edition size is confirmed. Each will be finished with a matte silkscreen seal, while spot highlights in gloss varnish bring the gummies to life.

Hand-finished, 28-layer silkscreens from a Bay Area legend.Our first collaboration with Barry McGee is a greatest hits style montage of his life in San Francisco. From disgruntled looking Everyman heads – an allegory for the city’s ‘invisible’ homeless population – to acronyms for the graffiti crews he tags with, the untitled print rewards those familiar with the artist's expansive and experimental practice. Abstract geometries fill the gaps, providing “areas to rest the eye” and loading the print with McGee's distinct aesthetic code.Once printed, McGee will add unique details to each print with spray paint and gouache. Illustrative additions introduce familiar faces from his esoteric library of references and symbols, while unplanned dots and lines in grey nod to the graffiti he still sprays today. Testing the process at Brothers Marshall in Malibu, faces, animals and acronyms were added to the right hand side of the print. For the edition itself, expect more of the same and (knowing Barry) a few surprises too. “I will be interacting with each print in a different way. I try to keep that element of unpredictability when composing work.”The underlying artworks – 14 colour silkscreens printed in 28 sharp-edged layers – have been created in close collaboration with expert printmakers at Make-Ready in London.