Virtual exhibition runtime: 9:37 - available in 4k ultra hd. video has no sound. start your favorite album and enjoy!
LINEAR — REVERSE exhibits relief monoprint works made by Chris Chandler taking advantage of his Vandercook 232P with a 30” x 32” printing bed to experiment with the modular Alpha-Blox font in large form. Alpha-Blox was created as a movable font by the American Type Founder in 1944 and was sold to printers as an alternative to the usual restrictions of lead type fonts. The font never took-off with popularity, but being attracted to the creative possibilities, Chandler took the Alpha-Blox type to create large-scale woodcut versions of the complete set of the modular system to be used in his own print compositions and push the limitations of letterpress printing.
Working quickly and responsively through the process of letterpress printing, the artist embraces unexpected interactions and revels in the unique monoprint results that emerge. Chandler uses the lexicon of his large-scale Alpha-Blox to plan his overall compositions and patterns, but then allows for freedom in his layering of colors, dimensional play through wood grains, and visual reveals of color and texture from wheatpasting the prints to panel surfaces. The results are works that focus on beauty and simplicity in design, visual associations within abstraction, and the endless possibilities of working iteratively within a modular system.
This exhibition highlights the importance of Chandler’s creative process and the collaborative dynamic between him and his Vandercook press. Chandler simultaneously works within the confines of the Alpha-Blox design and the freedom of monoprinting creating a body of work where each piece is individualized; each is a record of the constructive conflict between artist and machine and the beauty that can result from the reproductive nature of working within analog print processes.
