Nicky Hoberman

(South African, b.1967)

Medusa (red, I and II)

2017

Diptych etching with drypoint

Edition of 7

Each sheet signed, dated, numbered and titled in pencil

Each sheet: 16 1/2 x 19 1/2 inches (42 x 50 cm)

$4,000 for the pair

Hard ground etchings with drypoint executed on copper plates, a diptych, both fine, fresh impressions, the pair printed with Rouge Geranium plus Noir Doux Charbonnel inks, the full sheets, printed on 300gsm Somerset White paper, with margins, each executed in an edition of only 7 (were also 2 Artist’s Proofs, 2 Hors Commerce Proofs, 2 Printer’s Proofs and 1 Bon a Tirer proof), printed by Peter Kosowicz at Thumbprint Editions, London, published by World House Editions, Middlebury, Connecticut, in fine condition, unframed.

Notes:

According to the artist:

Since hair is already dead, without feelings, artist Maria Lassnig refused to depict it. Print making is all about reversing images so, accordingly, in this diptych I’ve flipped the stricture, making the hair of my Medusae alive and animate, much like octopus tentacles with highly sensitive neurons feeling their way for survival. Here each face is isolated from the mass of writhing hair; Medusa I has a flat, mask-like face behind which her inner self can safely hide, while Medusa II has a more classical sculptural head, like a stone shield figure. Asymmetrical features and enigmatic smiles in both faces, however, hint at the liveliness repressed beneath the more conventional outer guise.