Quadra

 

Deborah Remington

  1930 - 2010 (biography)

1988 -89 

color lithograph 

24 x 17 1/8" image 

pencil, lower left 

265 

dated 1989 in pencil, lower left after signature; embossed stamp of the Print Club of Cleveland and that of the Oceans Works 

Print Club of Cleveland publication no. 68, 1990; illustrated on page 62 in "The Print Club of Cleveland 1969-1994". 

ivory wove German etching paper 

published 

Print Club of Cleveland 

19543 

$900.00 

Deborah Remington had recently emerged from a four year hiatus from exhibiting when she created “Quadra,” a darkly hued lithograph in a loose style that deviated from the polished, highly technical look she had established in the late 1970s and 80s. Yet even in its wilder structure there is a sense of control - or the search for it - in Remington’s composition. “Quadra” embodies one of the foundational periods of exploration for the ever-evolving artist. Remington’s life was a veritable record of 20th century American art evolution, being a part of major shifts in the construction of artistic ideals on both coasts from the 1950s to the early 2000s. In particular, Remington appeared to use printmaking as means of pure exploration, puzzling out the building of an image rather than meditating on the emotive aspect of a subject. This color lithograph, published by the Print Club of Cleveland, is an example of one such explorative period. It holds the hallmarks of an artist finding new paths to expression. The lines are heavy, appearing to be drawn with immediacy, and form a collection of shapes or figures marching toward the center of the work. Notes of her time studying Japanese sumi ink calligraphy appear in the overall structure, and her tendency toward dark, almost murky colors makes the central focus of the piece - a square of uninked paper - appear to be a window into which the artist or the viewer is drawn, seeking a new truth.