Eckhard Froeschlin

Mini Super El Comienzo

Poem by Pablo Pupiro

Etching and aquatint with linocut and letterpress

Edition number 6/10

Image size: 15" x 11 1/2"

Paper size: 15" x 22 1/2"

Estimated value: $950

Printed by the artist

German artist Eckhard Froeschlin was born in 1953 and was predominantly influenced creatively by the 1970s growing up. Conceptualism is often perceived as a reaction to Minimalism, and the leading art movement of the 1970s, challenging the boundaries of art with its revolutionary features. The movements that ensued were all representative of a strong desire to evolve and strengthen the art world, in response to the tensions of the previous decade. Process art branched out from Conceptualism, featuring some of its most crucial aspects, but going further in creating mysterious and experimental artistic journeys, while Land Art brought creation to the outsides, initiating early philosophies of environmentalism. In Germany, Expressive figure painting was given a second chance for the first time since the decline of Abstract Expressionism almost twenty years ago, the genre regained its distinction through the brushstrokes of Gerhard Richter, Anselm Kiefer and Georg Baselitz. Influences also include the critically engaged Mono-Ha movement, comprised of Japanese and Korean artists, blossomed in Tokyo in the 1970s. Rejecting traditional ideas of representation, the artists favoured a depiction of the world through an engagement with materials and an exploration of their properties.

Froeschlin creates printed editions, broadsides (words and images on a single page), as well as artist books and portfolios. Combining prose, music lyrics or poetry and images, he explores visual ideas with the printed word. Founded in 1991, Froeschlin established the artist's book press EDITION SCHWARZE SEITE in 1991, with Anne Büssow, in Wuppertal. He currently operates the press from a former papermaking plant

in the small town of Scheer, on the Danube River in southern Germany. It is an artist's hand press in which books and portfolios by E. Froeschlin and other artists appear, in lead type and with original prints. Small editions are printed on manual presses. Selected papers and bindings are part of the basic equipment. An original graphic wall calendar appears annually. The construction and support of an artist printing workshop in Matagalpa / Nicaragua is another and momentous aspect of the edition. Books and broadsides from Edition Schwarze Seite are in major private and public collections throughout the world.