Every year ETOA members receive a print that attests their membership and remains as a decoration
for years to come. These
prints come from a limited edition made for ETOA and are now available to purchase.
The artist
is Luke Elwes. His work is displayed in the corporate collections of Christies, The National
Trust, Deutche Bank, Unilever and Bayer. He is one of the few artists invited to
show in
London
at the
Royal Academy Summer Show by the
Royal Academy
itself.
His first one-man show was in 1985 and has regularly exhibited since then. His
London
dealers
are Art First in
Cork Street
.
Visit Luke's website for more information about his work
The print series entitled 'Path'
uses continual tone lithography. This process enables an artist to vary his colours from solid to transparent, creating an extraordinary depth of tone.
The lithographs were produced
at the famous Curwen Press, printers to Henry Moore, John Piper and Elizabeth Frink.
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PATH I
"The print shows a curving path progressing towards a sharply curved
blue horizon. The foreground is a deep earth yellow; this graduates through a hint
of green fertility to a pale blue in the distance. Above the horizon is a starlit
sky. Either side of the path lies evidence of flora and fauna. These are signs that
you might find on a map, or objects that are deposited on a beach or marks left
by animals. You spot them, half understood, as a
traveller
might when moving through a landscape. In the distance such details
become indistinct.
What is to be discovered remains an enigma.
"I am particularly happy with this image. It can be interpreted as a view into the
future - a road about to be
travelled
- or a contemplation of the past. Path should lead one through an atmospheric
landscape to an infinite background. The distance is either unknown or forgotten."
Luke Elwes
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PATH II
"The print shares the same underlying design with the earlier work:
a curving path progresses towards a sharply curved horizon. It also shares the double
meaning: it can be interpreted as a view into the future - a road about to be
travelled - or a contemplation of the past.
What is different? I think when I first came across this printing technique I was
drawn to use its ability to graduate
colour.
Path I
runs from yellow through green to a pale blue in the distance. Path II is
flatter. The ochre landscape is harsher but also covered with signs of life. The
shadow that is cast across the earth also forms the backdrop of the twilight. The
flash of white above the horizon
can be read as either the first flicker of dawn
or the last flash of day.
The biggest difference between the prints lies in the greenery that emerges throughout
the landscape. Path I was comparatively barren and enigmatic; Path II has leaves,
trees, flowers, creepers, petals and buds carpeting the earth." Luke Elwes
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PATH III
"In
Path
III
the contrast between light and dark is reversed:
we view sunlight from shadow. This sunlight suffuses the entire landscape imbuing
even the dark foreground with warmth. The whole plain is patterned with vivid green
flora rising through a thin film of mist. This atmospheric effect is reminiscent
of the tonal graduations in Path I.
This is the third
image of the series, and I find that the path itself is taking on some attributes
of a river. I hope the viewer can simultaneously see the river flowing towards them
as the path recedes. Luke Elwes
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PATH IV
"The
difference this year lies in the patterning on the land. The first print showed
off the lithographs ability to graduate colour:
Path I
ran from yellow through green to a pale blue in the distance. Path II was
flatter: The ochre landscape was harsher yet covered with signs of life. In
Path III I tried to create an impression of landscape viewed through hazy
sunlight.
In
Path IV we contemplate a winter landscape. Frost covers the earth and the flora
stands out in dark brown silhouettes. Contours become sharp-edged, leading the eye
in a zigzag pattern across the plain. Cold air shortens your perception of space,
it flattens perspective. I hope that the print can be read as both a two dimensional
pattern and a view into a distance. This ambiguity is intentional, and is meant
to remind the viewer of winter.
This is the fourth
image of the series. It is a different season to the others, and so rounds off a
set. Luke Elwes
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