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Artist name

Alex Gama

Artist year born

1950

Artwork make date

1990

Artwork title translation

Untitled

Artwork material

wood engraving
Japanese paper

Artwork dimensions

height: 55.5cm
width: 38cm

Artwork type (categories)

Print

Accession method

Donated by Alex Gama 1999

Accession number

9-1999

Label text

In this untitled wood engraving, as in so much of his work, Gama has been influenced by Japanese artistic traditions both in aesthetic and technical ways. His meticulous attention to detail and the simplicity of his abstract forms are reminiscent of Japanese art. The absorbency of the Japanese paper he uses facilitates the physical integration of the water-based ink with the paper in a way that is close to dyeing textiles. He exploits the long grain of the wood, sometimes enhancing the wood with his burin to create a tension between the organic medium and geometric forms superimposed upon it. In this way his prints relate to one of his other sources of inspiration: the body paintings traditional to many of Brazil's indigenous peoples, where crisp geometric patterns are applied to soft human skin.
Gabriela Salgado

Last updated date

2008