British Council Collection
UNICORN 1986
Adrian Wiszniewski (1958 – )
Details
- Dimension
- 76.2 X 56 CM
- Media
- ETCHING
- Accession number
- P5490
Summary
Whilst in his final year at University Charles Booth-Clibborn published The Scottish Bestiary under his imprint The Paragon Press. Booth-Clibborn had invited the Orkney born writer George Mackay Brown to produce texts, in the form of poetry and prose, to accompany 20 prints by Scottish artists depicting 19 animals – real and mythological. Wiszniewski one of the first artists Booth-Clibborn approached and he chose to make lithographs of the Dragon, Salmon and Unicorn. In the end Wiszniewski made three prints in three different media and exchanged the Salmon for the Raven. Apart from two etchings these were the first prints the artist had made. The Unicornlithography was abandoned after the stone broke after only 12 prints had been pulled and the artist started again, electing to produce an etching. A plate was sent to him in Liverpool, where he was then artist-in-residence at the Walker Art Gallery, and he drew a new image using a sewing needle taped to a pencil.
Further reading:
Contemporary Art in Print, Scottish National Gallery of Modern and The Paragon Press, 1995, texts by Jeremy Lewison, Duncan Macmillan and Patrick Elliott
Glossary
-
Etching
An intaglio process whereby a metal plate (normally copper, zinc or steel) is covered with an acid-resistant layer of rosin mixed with wax. With a sharp point, the artist draws through this ground to reveal the plate beneath. The plate is then placed in an acid bath (a water and acid solution) and the acid bites into the metal plate where the drawn lines have exposed it. The waxy ground is cleaned off and the plate is covered in ink and then wiped clean, so that ink is retained only in the etched lines. The plate can then be printed through an etching press. The strength of the etched lines depends on the length of time the plate is left in the acid bath.
-
Imprint
In a bibliographic item, the name of the publisher, distributor, or manufacturer, and the place and date of publication.