What is Silkscreen? | A guide to art terminology

Silkscreen

Silkscreen printing, also known as silk-screening or serigraphy, is a printing technique that uses a tightly stretched mesh or screen.

Silkscreen printing, also known as silk-screening or serigraphy, is a stencil-based printmaking technique. It begins by tightly stretching a woven fabric, nowadays usually synthetic, over a wooden frame to form a screen. Any portions of the screen not intended for the image are blocked using various stencil techniques. To create the print, a squeegee is employed to push ink through the open areas of the screen directly onto paper. Screen Prints are known for their striking, well-defined regions of flat, unvaried colour.

44 results found for "Silkscreen"

The Entity Stirs

A mythical beast steps out from the maelstrom.

Miwa Komatsu’s paintings are guided by a deeply personal spiritual outlook. Yamainu-san are wolf-like divine beings, encountered by Komatsu as a child and now found – wide eyed and cosmic – throughout her dazzling artworks.

In The Entity Stirs, a Yamainu-san emerges from an ocean of lace-like white marks surrounded by mountains and fire. Based on an original painting, the edition layers a flatbed print with three silkscreen layers including fluorescent ink and flashes of gold.

The dazzling eyes at the artwork’s centre are of particular significance. Komatsu explains that – in a series of epiphanies – the intense stares she is confronted by in otherworldly encounters have broadened her own vision, and helped her to paint.

Each print is accompanied by a copy of The Great Harmonisation – an illustrated poem conceived as an introduction to the conceptual framework of Komatsu’s practice.

Lemonhead

A child slides free from reality in Hiroya Kurata’s sun-kissed vignette.

For his paintings, Hiroya Kurata draws inspiration from family life. Many are based on photographs he takes during adventures with his wife and three children. Tenderness is balanced with bizarre artistic interventions. In this case, the subject’s head becomes a large smiling lemon.

Complete with deckled edges and a silkscreen varnish seal, aptly-titled Lemonhead translates a recent painting of the same name into an edition of 40 signed prints.

Afro Painter

Afro Painter is an abstract rebellion against conformity.

Based on an original work from Jansen’s anonymous Faceless series (2012), the edition challenges idealised stereotypes in painting and traditional portraiture. The portrait, influenced by his younger self, encapsulates the painter's inner battle. The subject is broken down into abstract parts which call for rebuilding, reflective of the artist’s personal journey as an artist in solitude with PTSD. Strong parallels can be drawn between the edition and works by German interwar artists such as Otto Dix and George Grosz; creating works as radical in their sociopolitical commentary as they are in style.

Ready?

So Youn Lee’s candy-hued protagonist looks back with a question.

Mango is found at the centre of many of So Youn Lee’s paintings. Wide-eyed, naked and often accompanied by their French bulldog Choco. In cosmic scenes of “gentle chaos”, the pair embark on various adventures – an allegory for Lee’s experiences as an immigrant in Los Angeles, and her reflections on the human condition.

In Ready? Mango becomes ice cream-like, surrounded by fireworks and adorned with cherries. The oil painting, rendered in pastel hues, acid brights and mottled texture, has been carefully transformed into a UV flatbed print with deckled edges and a matte varnish seal.

Ringers #962: The LACMA Iterations

Dmitri Cherniak reconfigures his pioneering series with a silkscreen print that nods to the algorithmic parameters of Generative art.

Originally released in 2021, the Ringers series illustrates the almost infinite ways a string could be wrapped around a set of pegs, created by an algorithm that allows an limitless variety of combinations of this concept. Derived from a unique Javascript transaction hash, each output contains feature variations including peg count, size, layout, wrap orientation and colourful flourishes.

Realised as a physical print edition, this new incarnation of Ringers is a 9-piece parameter sweep laid out in a 3x3 grid. The number of pegs sampled are changed between 10% and 100%, with the signature yellow peg remaining consistent in each composition. Ringer #962, donated to LACMA, appears in the centre. To support the future of Los Angeles County Museum of Art, proceeds from Cherniak's first Avant Arte edition will be donated to the museum, alongside the original work.

The artist’s three signature colours are boldly realised in seven layers of silkscreen, each enhanced by embossment. Each print is paired with an NFT of the same artwork. Claiming instructions will be shared with collectors after launch.

The exact edition size will be determined by the number of prints ordered in the 24 hour release window. When this window ends, artworks will be printed and shipped worldwide free of charge.

MY DAVID X

NKSIN presents a brooding snapshot with a colourful twist.

MY DAVID X takes inspiration from old and new artistic traditions. While the smoking subject is influenced by ‘90s American cartoons and graffiti culture, NKSIN draws on traditional sfumato painting techniques to seamlessly blend one shade into the next. Pioneered by Renaissance master Leonardo da Vinci and translating to mean evaporates, this use of hazy blending enables NKSIN to explore tonal variation – giving his work a distinct softness. Acid yellow headphones introduce a stark visual contrast. Together with a pale grey hoodie, both layered on top of the composition as hand-collaged elements, they ground their wearer within a specifically modern context.

Super Glow

A polished yet surreal portrait combines sleek modernism with Paul Insect's street art influences.

Supercharged with colour, Dada-esque Super Glow showcases the artist’s signature motifs. The subject’s features are revealed under a scintillating mask, reminiscent of a sharp-edged stencil. Behind lies a number of Insect’s identifying motifs – intricate pointillism, paint splashes and multi-textured collage. Set upon a vibrating neon backdrop, the portrait comes to life in through 32 silkscreen layers and hand-applied diamond dust.

BLOOM

With a blossoming symbol of growth and renewal, Marcela Flórido explores the beauty of self discovery.

Playful, sensitive, bold – Flórido’s first print edition, BLOOM, embodies her intentions as an artist. The edition is based on a large-scale painting from 2022, an experiment in symmetry. Flórido foregrounds her cartoonish pseudo-self, a recurring subject for her recent artworks. She draws from a wealth of art historical references, from Modernism to Baroque, Hilma Af Klimt to Tarsal do Amaral, culminating in a vibrant exploration of selfhood.

Each print has been uniquely hand-finished by the artist with flowers in a variety of colours, patterns and mediums, inviting collectors to connect with their print on a deeper level.

Humility and the Other One in Me

Colour, perspective and love come undone in Humility and the Other One in Me.

Grappling with themes of desire, disbelief, doubt and sensuality, the title continues Olschbaur’s exploration of emotion through her practice. Olschbaur’s paintings, charged with eroticism and mystery, take stylistic inspiration from European art history and romantic figures such as Francesco Goya, while subverting the traditional roles of women in art. The print constitutes a fusion of memories, artistic inspiration and personal photographs, distilled into a tender moment of companionship.

Collectible

Artist Bag

Take art to the streets with a limited edition tote by Tschabalala Self.

Five artist bags created in collaboration with re-wrap present the opportunity to collect work by Avant Artists in a functional, real-world ready format. For her bespoke design, Tschabalala Self reconfigures the hand-drawn, swirling patterns which characterise her paintings and sculptures into symmetrical black and turquoise.

re-wrap is a social enterprise with 20 years of expertise creating hand-made, organic cotton tote bags and textile products in close partnership with women and farmers in South India.

Collectible

Artist Bag

Take art to the streets with a limited edition tote by Neo Image Matloga.

Five artist bags created in collaboration with re-wrap present the opportunity to collect work by Avant Artists in a functional, real-world ready format. For his bespoke design, Matloga layers a graphic, double-sided portrait and zebra print handles onto a boxy tote with a creamy blue, textured underprint.

re-wrap is a social enterprise with 20 years of expertise creating hand-made, organic cotton tote bags and textile products in close partnership with women and farmers in South India.

Collectible

Artist Bag

Take art to the streets with a limited edition tote by Hein Koh.

Five artist bags created in collaboration with re-wrap present the opportunity to collect work by Avant Artists in a functional, real-world ready herformat. For her bespoke design, Koh sets the intrepid vegetal heroine central to her recent paintings in a nonchalant pose – white smoke erupting from a lit cigarette.

re-wrap is a social enterprise with 20 years of expertise creating hand-made, organic cotton tote bags and textile products in close partnership with women and farmers in South India.

Collectible

Artist Bag

Take art to the streets with a limited edition tote by Cleon Peterson.

Five artist bags created in collaboration with re-wrap present the opportunity to collect work by Avant Artists in a functional, real-world ready format. For his bespoke design, Peterson encircles all four sides of a rectangular tote with a minimalist wartime tableau in black and beige.

re-wrap is a social enterprise with 20 years of expertise creating hand-made, organic cotton tote bags and textile products in close partnership with women and farmers in South India.

Collectible

slime XCIX

Slathered in a crimson ooze, slime XCIX is born.

The print edition translates an original painting from Kotao Tomozawa’s slime series into six silkscreen layers, finished with a dusting of glitter. The artist’s hyper-realistic style is emphasised through the use of a high gloss varnish seal, mimicking the translucent effect seen in her paintings. The composition further contributes to the idea that this image could be a photograph, resembling that of a polaroid picture.

The uncanny appears in various forms throughout Tomozawa’s practice. In this instance, a plastic doll. Slime is another recurring motif, as the artist recalls calming moments from her childhood spent playing with the substance. Combined with the use of red, a sinister undertone pervades – the slime coating appearing like a mask, falling unnaturally to leave the doll’s eyes and mouth uncovered.

The Aquarium (Hand-finished)

Tinged with mischief and joy, Szabolcs Bozó unveils a fantastical sub-aquatic world.

When painting an original artwork for Art Basel Miami, Bozó was inspired by Ocean Drive. The beach, vivid architecture and neon lights all inform his underwater scene. Characters swimming through the piece began as sketches rooted in the artist’s Hungarian heritage. Influences spanning animation, folklore and mythology emerge in their unusual characteristics.

Treating each hand-finished edition as an original work, Bozo gets lost in the textural brushstrokes he adds whilst working from his studio floor. Each footprint or pawprint from his dog is left on the surface as ‘imperfections’ that are integral to his practice.

“Everyone digests art differently. Although I’m the one making the work, I don’t want to force my perspective on someone else and taint their enjoyment of it.”

The Aquarium

Tinged with mischief and joy, Szabolcs Bozó unveils a fantastical sub-aquatic world.

“Everyone digests art differently. Although I’m the one making the work, I don’t want to force my perspective on someone else and taint their enjoyment of it.”

Mai (Afterlife) after Sir Joshua Reynolds' Portrait of Mai (Omai), 1776 and Frederick Douglass, 1850

Mai (Afterlife) after Sir Joshua Reynolds' Portrait of Mai (Omai), 1776 and Frederick Douglass, 1850 are a pair of time limited editions launched in support of the National Portrait Gallery in London. Re-opening in June 2023, the Gallery's diversified collection focuses on presenting an inclusive and dynamic picture of the people who have contributed to the rich history of the United Kingdom.

Checkout from this page to order both prints in one shipment. For details of each artwork, visit their individual pages.

Fall

In Fall, suburbia seen from above forms a gateway to everyday life.

Part of an ongoing series depicting Riven Yun's experiences in North Eastern USA, Fall explores the intersection between matter-of-fact memories and endless imagination. A familiar cluster of houses sit between delicate electrical cables – emphasising the depth and scale of the sweeping composition.

“My work has always been to translate emotions and to have people reflect on their own personal lives; In a sense, my art is but a portal to each individual's memories.”

Each print is paired with an NFT of the same artwork. Claiming instructions will be shared with collectors after launch.

Frederick Douglass, 1850

With an edition of silkscreen prints, Elizabeth Peyton makes an emotive tribute to a seminal figure in the history of America.

In Frederick Douglass, 1850 (2020), Peyton renders the titular American abolitionist, orator and writer from the neck up. The intimate and closely-cropped scale emphasises the minimalism and physicality of her brushwork, and heightens the emotional intensity of her subject's expression. She builds up the contours of Douglass’s face from short, watery dabs of oil paint – lending the composition a sense of spirited lightness.

Peyton’s artwork has been meticulously translated into a 32-layer, limited edition silkscreen in close collaboration artisan printmakers at Make-Ready in London – one of a pair of editions launched in support of the National Portrait Gallery in London. Re-opening in June 2023, the Gallery's diversified collection focuses on presenting an inclusive and dynamic picture of the people who have contributed to the rich history of the United Kingdom.

Frederick Douglass, 1850, 2023, silkscreen print © Elizabeth Peyton

Mai (Afterlife) after Sir Joshua Reynolds' Portrait of Mai (Omai), 1776

In support of the National Portrait Gallery in London, Elizabeth Peyton depicts the subject of Reynolds’ eighteenth century portrait in gestural fuchsia.

Reynolds’ original painting portrays Mai – a Pacific Islander from Raiatea who travelled to England in 1773 and became a prominent figure in aristocratic society – at full length, barefoot in flowing robes. In her rendition, Peyton focuses entirely on Mai’s face, which she renders evocatively in loose strokes of oil paint.

Peyton’s artwork has been meticulously translated into a 15-layer, limited edition silkscreen in close collaboration artisan printmakers at Make-Ready in London – one of a pair of editions launched in support of the National Portrait Gallery in London. Re-opening in June 2023, the Gallery's diversified collection focuses on presenting an inclusive and dynamic picture of the people who have contributed to the rich history of the United Kingdom.

Mai (Afterlife) after Sir Joshua Reynolds' Portrait of Mai (Omai), 1776, 2023, silkscreen print © Elizabeth Peyton.

Strawberry Tears

Absurdism, horror, and cultivated arbitrariness meet canonical oil painting in a distorted portrait by Christian Rex van Minnen.

Grotesque and yet – somehow – delicious, plump gummy sweets float above a pulled and pinched face, veiled by a tattoo-esque layer of lurid cartoons. With a focus on tonal depth and richness of colour, the edition is printed in 34 distinct layers and finished with gold shimmer. Embossing and gloss varnish cause the gummies to jump forth from their surroundings, to surreal effect.

Specks, bubbling and pitting are a conscious choice by the artist, conceived to echo the aged surfaces of the centuries-old Dutch Masters paintings that inspire his work. The irregularities, unique to each print, are achieved by curing layers of ink for less time than usual – an experimental technique developed in collaboration with printmakers at Make-Ready in London.

The resulting artwork deftly entwines the precise technicalities of silkscreen printing with its lyrical unpredictability.

Suburban Dreams

Aaron Johnson brings his cosmic vision back to earth with a subversive twist on suburbia.

Palm trees and little bungalows, leisure shirts and sunburns; archetypal California underpins the otherworldly scene. Fluid figures emerge from glowing energy fields of colour, created by the artist's signature soak stain technique. While monstrous, the characters– and the tableau they inhabit – are spiked with humour. A sense of normalcy disrupts the figuration; kids are glued to the TV, bridging the gap between the real and imagined.

“I’m thinking about the idyllic idea of wholesome American life in the suburban dream – we all know there’s weird stuff lurking behind the surface.”

A Warm Garden

Danielle Orchard moves from dusk to dawn in a radiant vision of contemplation.

In A Warm Garden, Orchard places a pensive female figure amidst nature – in a place where the sun sets and rises simultaneously. Painted in a warm palette awash with lucent yellow hues, the subject’s bare skin appears to glow in the layered sunlight. Complete with the angular features, separated into geometric planes, which define Orchard’s approach to portraiture, the woman wields a timeless demeanour that a viewer may expect to encounter in a classical painting or bust.

Sweet Bloom (Purple)

Flowers bloom in three different colours in Deborah Segun’s cubist-inspired vision of femininity.

Influenced by the collective experience of womanhood, Sweet Bloom (Purple) is an exploration of delicacy. A subject’s face hovers between a hand and flower. The silkscreen print accentuates the two-dimensionality of Segun’s works, emphasising her use of line to make the distinct shapes appear like cut-out collage.

The edition is available in three colour variations – blue, purple and yellow – in which the colours of the petals, hair and nails alternate.

Sweet Bloom (Yellow)

Flowers bloom in three different colours in Deborah Segun’s cubist-inspired vision of femininity.

Influenced by the collective experience of womanhood, Sweet Bloom (Yellow) is an exploration of delicacy. A subject’s face hovers between a hand and flower. The silkscreen print accentuates the two-dimensionality of Segun’s works, emphasising her use of line to make the distinct shapes appear like cut-out collage.

The edition is available in three colour variations – blue, purple and yellow – in which the colours of the petals, hair and nails alternate.

Sweet Bloom (Blue)

Flowers bloom in three different colours in Deborah Segun’s cubist-inspired vision of femininity.

Influenced by the collective experience of womanhood, Sweet Bloom (Blue) is an exploration of delicacy. A subject’s face hovers between a hand and flower. The silkscreen print accentuates the two-dimensionality of Segun’s works, emphasising her use of line to make the distinct shapes appear like cut-out collage.

The edition is available in three colour variations – blue, purple and yellow – in which the colours of the petals, hair and nails alternate.

Seeing in Phosphene

For a time-limited print edition, José Parlá spins memories of a life in art into abstract calligraphy.

Seeing in Phosphene sees Parlá draw on ocular phenomena as a source of inspiration. Caused by light, sound or pressure, ‘phosphene’ describes illusory colours and shapes that come from inside the eye. Rubbing closed eyes and seeing stars are common examples. By looking at the sun through the skylight of his Brooklyn studio and blinking, Parlá finds forms – spots, lines, riding colours – for his energetic paintings. In turn, these forms summon moments – the city, my family and friends, places I’ve been – from his storied past.

Available for 24 hours only, the edition of signed, varnish-sealed prints faithfully recreate an original painting. Set against a vibrant gradient of red, orange and yellow, densely-layered strokes become illegible and evade specificity. Instead, Parlá encourages his viewer to read the surface for themselves – to find their own meaning, and draw their own conclusions.

Free shipping is included on all orders. For more on sensory inspirations, read the accompanying journal.

Industry (Spiderweb)

Structures of all kinds collide in a silkscreen print by Sarah Morris.

With graphic canvases, Sarah Morris investigates the shapes, grids and systems that surround us. Industry translates a painting from her Spiderweb series, begun in 2021 under lockdown, into a print for the first time. The series draws parallels between the silken threads of a spider’s home and the precarity of a modern metropolis – both structures in which distant elements find themselves delicately interconnected.

11 silkscreen layers form a composition of hard-edged solids. Shards and circles in punchy hues are layered over one another on a jet black base, blurring the parameters of negative space and evading a single or fixed definition. Gloss varnish recreates the lustrous finish of the domestic emulsion which Morris uses to paint – itself an echo of the industrial themes which percolate in her practice. The edition’s title references this, and nods to the art world’s own machinations, in which Morris finds herself enmeshed.

Cityscape

Keita Morimoto imagines the abundance of vending machines in Tokyo as mysterious windows into another world.

In Cityscape, Morimoto bathes an unassuming street in gentle purple light, unveiling a cinematic scene in the quiet moments before nightfall. Attracting consumers with light is a code of contemporary life in Japan – the vending machine window glows to capture the viewer’s attention. Morimoto’s skillful use of light and dark is enhanced with a layer of glowing ink. Applied to the areas of artificial light sources, it radiates onto the surrounding street when the artwork is seen in darkness.

“They have always struck me as these strange portals, almost like black holes, that I am drawn to in my day to day. Whatever you want, pretty much anything, you can get one in the machines.”

Venus

Takeru Amano lets loose with high saturation neo-pop graffiti.

In Venus, Amano employs energetic strokes of colour to define a puzzled, blushing face. Drips and textures created by the artist’s airbrush are transformed into seven silkscreen layers.

Amano frames his subject with a kaleidoscope of concave diamonds defined in thick, blunt-edged strokes. A strained expression – wide eyes, tight lips – instils the unsettling undercurrent which lingers throughout his practice. With this undercurrent, Amano reflects the world we live in – musing on the contrast between non-stop visual culture and the troubled individuals who consume it.

Free Speech

Free Speech belongs to a trio of artworks by Ai Weiwei which combine innovative printing methods with pillars of freedom upheld throughout his practice.

The edition encompasses rife global friction between free expression and censorship. Birds with open beaks – a nod to Twitter – hover above a symmetrical arrangement of razor wire, printed in 11 distinct layers on a silkscreen press. Glossy, vibrant colours contrast a matte black underprint, while a series of varnish highlights and phosphorescent details anoint the composition with depth and drama.

Stylistically, the work is an ode to papercut artworks made by the artist’s father – a renowned poet persecuted by the Chinese government – during his childhood. Ai's interest in paper cutting also stems from its historic status as a domestic pursuit, rather than a viable artistic medium.

Go behind the scenes at Make-Ready in London as Ai reflects on the profundities of printmaking, and its lineage within his practice.

Middle Finger in Black

Middle Finger in Black belongs to a trio of artworks by Ai Weiwei which combine innovative printing methods with pillars of freedom upheld throughout his practice.

A radial composition references the obscene gesture – a raised middle finger – which defines Ai’s seminal series, Study of Perspective. Begun in 1995, the series asserts the importance of our collective freedom to form, hold and express individual beliefs. For the artist, the power of a simple gesture like this is that anyone can make it. The edition is printed on a silkscreen press and finished with an intricate layer of white gold leaf, applied by hand to dazzling effect.

In a new juncture for Study of Perspective, we’ve also collaborated with Ai to make his middle finger available to all – inviting any and everyone to share their own perspective on power. Add yours to the archive now.

Then, go behind the scenes at Make-Ready in London as Ai reflects on the profundities of printmaking and its lineage within his practice.

Middle Finger in Red

Collect a silkscreen rendition of Ai Weiwei’s emblematic gesture of defiance.

Middle Finger in Red will be available to order for 24 hours only on Thursday 30 March. The radial composition – created specially for the edition and printed in two layers – references the raised middle finger which defines Ai’s seminal series, Study of Perspective.

Begun in 1995, the series asserts the importance of our collective freedom to form, hold and express individual beliefs. For almost 20 years Ai has reprised Study of Perspective at sites of power worldwide, prompting a tide of recreations by members of the public. To him, the power of a simple gesture is that anyone can make it.

The 24 hour edition marks the opening of a landmark exhibition of new and archival works by Ai Weiwei at the Design Museum in London – the first in a series of five limited edition artworks conceived in tandem with the show. Proceeds will support the museum’s future.

Once in my Life (diptych)

Javier Calleja debuts a once in a lifetime project with a pair of time-limited prints.

Based on defining original works from Calleja’s upcoming magnum opus, the editions will be available to all for 24 hours only – and can be ordered separately, or as a diptych.

Calleja’s endearing figures are led by emotion. The two sketches selected by the artist encompass his distinctive character stylings and use of irreverent slogans. A single phrase spans both works, revealed in full when they are seen together. Together, they nod to the significance of a project that has commanded two years of the artist's attention.

The editions translate original soft ground etchings into intricate hybrid prints. Areas of vibrant colour are enhanced by layers of varnish and red ink applied on a silkscreen. Finally, each print is authenticated with a bespoke artist stamp – unique to the edition.

100 Once in my Life T-shirts will be allocated at random when prints are dispatched. Worldwide shipping is free.

in my Life

Javier Calleja debuts a once in a lifetime project with a pair of time-limited prints.

Based on defining original works from Calleja’s upcoming magnum opus, the editions will be available to all for 24 hours only – and can be ordered separately, or as a diptych. in my Life is the left hand panel of the diptych.

100 Once in my Life T-shirts will be allocated at random when prints are dispatched. Worldwide shipping is free.

Once

Javier Calleja debuts a once in a lifetime project with a pair of time-limited prints.

Based on defining original works from Calleja’s upcoming magnum opus, the editions will be available to all for 24 hours only – and can be ordered separately, or as a diptych. Once is the left hand panel of the diptych.

100 Once in my Life T-shirts will be allocated at random when prints are dispatched. Worldwide shipping is free.

Fishbowl

For a timed-limited edition of silkscreen prints, available for 24 hours only, Yu Nagaba composes a minimal scene of fish, flowers and solitude.

In a sharp, linear style influenced by his endeavours in graphic design, Nagaba depicts a person and three fish, sitting in front of a patterned wall. Goldfish and floral motifs pay homage to French Fauvist Matisse – a longstanding source of inspiration for Yu’s curvaceous forms and figures.

Each print is finished with an ACE Hotel stamp in vibrant red. The stamp is a calling card seen throughout the artist’s practice, adding a touch of colour to his monochrome palette. It calls to Nagaba’s childhood memories of his father’s travels and the simple mementos he’d return with, and more recently to an imagined alter ego who travels the world leaving cryptic sketches on hotel notepads.

Metropolis - prints

Metropolis is a long-form generative art collection by Michael Kozlowski (mpkoz). Avant Arte is partnering with the artist to enable collectors of Metropolis the option to purchase high-quality physical prints of the original NFT artworks.

Metropolis explores node-based systems, which are critical to computing, blockchains, logistics, and most apparently, the formation and function of cities. The artworks in Metropolis are built from five primary “city” traits, New York City, Berlin, London, Mexico City, and Los Angeles. These traits determine compositions and backgrounds which stylistically represent their respective city.

Every owner of an online edition of Metropolis had the option to journey to the city featured in their edition to mint a second, visually cohesive diptych piece. Avant Arte will be offering prints of the online editions, the diptych editions, or a combination of both. The price listed is for a single artwork. Combined diptych prints can be added at checkout. The title of each print corresponds with the token ID of the NFT, tethered together by an authenticating QR code. Every print is a 1/1 and once purchased, cannot be printed again. See below for the claim status of each edition.

Joel, Tess and Haze

An often unnoticed moment of family life takes centre stage in Joel, Tess and Haze.

For Chris Huen, the work of an artist is to bear witness to our changing times. He moved to London from Hong Kong during a period of political unrest. Rather than painting the sentiment of upheaval, he focused on the steady movement of the everyday – like the transient nature of the seasons from the greenery of spring to the dappled yellow of mid-September.

Each print from the edition is an experimental variation of the new original work. Hand applied watercolour envelops the scene, upon five layers of silkscreen, each pulled with a unique colour blend.

‘It is about a stage of mind and an understanding of being alive through seeing’.

I can't change, even if I tried

Sun-drenched and effortlessly glamorous, Dada Khanyisa reconfigures an archetypal holiday snapshot.

In a location defined only by pale blue ocean and burnt orange sky, the artist’s subject shelters her face from the sun. Partially-abstracted shapes and graphic outlines present a modern take on Cubist sensibilities – a common stylistic throughout Khanyisa’s paintings and sculptures.

The delicate design of the woman’s floral tattoo has been hand-finished by the artist in oil-based pencil, making each print unique.

Dream Catcher

In Dream Catcher, Danielle McKinney captures a quiet moment of reflection.

At rest in her own domestic setting, Mckinney’s subject is free to be herself. Baroque painting techniques are reimagined with nuances of gesture, contrast and shape. Rather than working with live models, the artist often finds her source material on social media – exploring the contrast of public and private life through a modern way of looking.

HAYU

An edition of hand-finished portraits unite two stylistic threads from the enthralling ouevre of Roby Dwi Antono.

HAYU is a seamless 26-colour silkscreen made with meticulous separation techniques, based on an original watercolour painting by the artist. Over the top, Roby adds playful bursts of colour using oil sticks, giving each print its own unique embellishment. The spirited motifs often resemble creatures – as if they’ve escaped from the imagination of the central blue-eyed figure.

Please note that works from the edition will be randomly assigned.

Poetic Fragments

Chen Wei Ting creates an ode to childhood and its imaginings in a pair of vibrant prints.

Poetic Fragments brings together two of the artist’s original works – I may be so unreasonable with him and He found a box on my back. Accompanied by two hand-written poems, the prints detail two scenes of imaginary characters at play. Their bubbled forms, complete with surprised facial expressions, are set within a richly-coloured space.

The notion of ‘fragments’ is taken from the artist’s love of literature and the philosophies of Roland Barthes. Viewing his artworks as fragments of his own life, Chen’s subjects convey a personal nostalgia for youth and innocence.

“Instinct drives me to write about these fragments of my childhood, like words and poems in my images, figurative but present.”

Stay Away

Hysterical, satirical – Yue Minjun returns.

Minjun’s laughing man is a consistent stamp of the artist’s practice. This time, his figure is set amongst a calming pastel seascape of a silkscreen print, foregrounded in the shallows. Referencing Buddha and the devil alike, his wide grin treads a line between jolly and menacing.

Other words in the glossary

17th-Century Arts 1980s Art 20th century art Abstract Art Abstract Expressionism Abstract Illusionism Abstract Landscape Abstract Sculpture

Acrylic Paint Action Painting African art Afrofuturism Algorithm Antiquities Aquatint Art Nouveau

Arte Povera Artificial Intelligence Artist Appropriation Artist Commission Assemblage Automatism Autonomous System Bauhaus

Ben-Day Dots Biomorphism Black Arts Movement Blockchain Built Environment Chicano Art Collagraph Conceptual Art

Conceptualism Contemporary African Art Contemporary Art Contemporary Asian Art Contemporary Figurative Painting Contemporary Impressionist Contemporary Performance Contemporary Photography

Contour Line Contrapposto Digital Art Digital Print Drypoint Dynamism Engraving ERC-1155

ERC-721 Etching Feminist Art Graphic Design Hindu Art History Painting Hyperrealism Immersive Art

Installation Art Intaglio Printing Interaction Art Intersectionality Kinetic Art Land Art Linocut Lithography

Madonna and Child Mezzotint Minimalism Modern Art Monotype Montage Neo-Expressionism NFT

Offset Lithography Oil Painting Old Masters Op Art Outdoor Art Outsider Art Performance Art Photorealism

Planographic Printing Post-Internet Pre-Columbian Art Printmaking Readymade Relief printing Self-Portrait Site-Specific Art

Smart Contract Sound-on-Disc Stencil Printing Street Art Textile Arts The Sublime Ukiyo-e Underground Art

VR Artwork Web 3.0 Wood Engraving Woodcut

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Your questions, answered

We collaborate with artists to create both limited editions and works on paper.

A limited edition is part of a unique series of pieces. Limited editions are fixed in quantity, meaning we will only ever produce a certain number.

Framing options vary for each piece and are listed on the individual artwork pages. All pieces are framed with 90% UV acrylic glass.

Yes, 100%. We work directly with our artists to create editions that accurately represent their body of work. Additionally, every artist personally reviews and approves their final editions.

Each edition comes with a numbered Certificate of Authenticity (COA) signed by the artist. Additionally every edition will be signed, marked, or numbered on the edition itself.

Works on paper and some originals don't come with a COA.

No—the copyright is not transferred to the purchaser of the edition.

All the ins and outs can be found on our orders and shipping page.

Parra's studio, with Parra at the centre, his back to the camera as he works on the large painting takes centre stage, showing a faceless blue woman in a striped dress, painted in red, purple, blue and teal. The studio is full of brightly coloured paints, with a large window on the right and a patterned rug across the floor under the painting.