32E57
3rd Floor

Will Cotton: New Monoprints

 – , 2010

 

Will Cotton is a painter largely known for his decadent and surreal candy landscapes, exploring themes of temptation, gluttony and indulgence. In his exhibition of works on paper for Pace Prints, he begins with the premise that these figurative characters have found themselves in a place where all desire is fulfilled all the time. Mr. Cotton imagines how one might address the issue of adornment in this given circumstance. 

In his Cupcake Tiara series, the model has decorated herself with a tiara made of three tiered cupcakes, looking over her shoulder at the viewer with guilty pleasure. In this series of lithographs, the model retains her position on the page, as Cotton draws over the print in crayon, charcoal, colored chalk, gouache, oil and acrylic, adding elements of atmosphere to the scene. The Ribbon Candy series portrays the model wearing an elaborate headdress made of ribbon candy, denoting status as persuasively as in renaissance portraiture. Printed in different color combinations and a variety of lithographic techniques, the monoprints also employ much of the artist’s hand with additional drawing and coloration.

All of the images started with a series of drawings completed by the artist on lithograph plates, which were printed by Master Printer Ruth Lingen, and then returned to Cotton’s studio. In his studio, he used the printed image as a jumping-off point for further exploration of the theme, drawing and painting over the ink, executing a variety of compositions and color combinations and gauging their chromatic impact and difference.

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This exhibition is no longer on view.

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