Unrepeated

Two Palms has been at the vanguard of monotype and monoprint processes since its founding by David Lasry in 1994 in downtown New York. This online presentation coincides with an exhibition of unique prints currently on view at David Zwirner’s 20th Street gallery in New York, celebrating Two Palms’ lasting impact and achievement in the field and the studio’s long relationship with Zwirner artists and others. The works featured represent some of the most inventive applications of the medium today.

Pressing in print studio 2021

Mel Bochner, who has collaborated with Two Palms for nearly three decades, prepares a work for the press with Two Palms staff, 2021. Photo by Thistle Brown

Mel Bochner, who has collaborated with Two Palms for nearly three decades, prepares a work for the press with Two Palms staff, 2021. Photo by Thistle Brown

Printing studio photo by Thistle Brown

A plate used to create an element of one of Bochner’s recent works rests against a printing press in the Two Palms studio. Photo by Thistle Brown

A plate used to create an element of one of Bochner’s recent works rests against a printing press in the Two Palms studio. Photo by Thistle Brown

Prints laying on the print studio desk, dated 2021

Works in progress at the Two Palms studio. Photo by Thistle Brown

Works in progress at the Two Palms studio. Photo by Thistle Brown

Each of these prints is entirely unique, a result of the artists curiosity, engagement, and experimentation with the medium. In some cases, the image is transferred from one smooth surface to another, pulling the pigment onto the paper and resulting in a single, unique print—a monotype. In others, an element of a repeatable image made through traditional printmaking techniques is uniquely colored, drawn, painted, or otherwise altered to create a monoprint.

Dana Schutz

A watercolor monotype by Dana Schutz, titled Red Painter, dated 2021.

Dana Schutz

Red Painter, 2021
Watercolor monotype with hand-painting in gouache
49 1/4 x 39 1/2 inches (125.1 x 100.3 cm)
Framed: 54 1/2 x 44 5/8 inches (138.4 x 113.3 cm)

This group of watercolor monotypes relates to Dana Schutz’s recent paintings that feature figures in impossible or post-calamitous situations. For Schutz, like many artists, the monotype process is a place to explore new tools, conditions, and happy accidents that later become an integral part of her practice.
 
Artists are often drawn to Two Palms’ rare hydraulic press, which, unlike a traditional rolling press, applies vertical pressure as a gesture or drawing tool. For Schutz, the mechanism enables unparalleled layering of color using a process unlike anything she does in her painting studio.

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A closeup of Dana Schutz in the studio at Two Palms, where she created prints since 2012. Photo by Max Farago

Dana Schutz in the studio at Two Palms, where she has created prints since 2012. Photo by Max Farago

Dana Schutz in the studio at Two Palms, where she has created prints since 2012. Photo by Max Farago

“[The process is] very direct—you draw and paint directly on the plywood, so it felt similar to working on a painting.… I found that it really opened up how I thought about making paintings.”
—DANA SCHUTZ

 
 
A watercolor monotype by Dana Schutz, titled Baggage 2021, dated 2021.

Dana Schutz

Baggage, 2021
Watercolor monotype with hand-painting in gouache
49 1/4 x 39 1/2 inches (125.1 x 100.3 cm)
Framed: 54 1/2 x 44 5/8 inches (138.4 x 113.3 cm)
A watercolor monotype by Dana Schutz, titled Sea Group dated 2021.

Dana Schutz

Sea Group, 2021
Watercolor monotype with hand-painting in gouache
49 3/4 x 39 1/2 inches (126.4 x 100.3 cm)
Framed: 54 1/2 x 44 5/8 inches (138.4 x 113.3 cm)

Cecily Brown

A mixed media artwork by Cecily Brown, titled Picture This 3, dated 2020.

Cecily Brown

Picture This 3, 2020
Pastel monotype with hand-drawing in pastel
52 1/4 x 71 1/2 inches (132.7 x 181.6 cm)
Framed: 56 1/2 x 75 7/8 inches (143.5 x 192.7 cm)

“I often think of them not as studies for the paintings, but as studies while i’m working on paintings. You don’t get as caught up in the material aspect because they’re fast and you can’t pile the paint on.”
—cecily brown

Detail of Cecily Brown, Untitled (Erotic Encounter), 2020

Cecily Brown has been creating monotypes and etchings at Two Palms since 2002. Detail of Cecily Brown, Picture This 3, 2020

Cecily Brown has been creating monotypes and etchings at Two Palms since 2002. Detail of Cecily Brown, Picture This 3, 2020

These works are classic examples of Cecily Brown’s highly erotic subject matter in the gestural style for which her paintings are widely acclaimed. They depict an imagined sexual encounter in an interior setting following the scene in Édouard Manet’s Le Déjeuner sur l’herbe (1863), referenced by the yellow hat and basket of fruit pictured in that celebrated painting.

These monotypes are richly embellished by hand with pastel after printing—the most extensively the artist has ever drawn on her prints.

 

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A mixed media artwork by Cecily Brown, titled Picture This 2, dated 2020.

Cecily Brown

Picture This 2, 2020
Pastel monotype with hand-drawing in pastel
52 1/2 x 71 1/2 inches (133.3 x 181.6 cm)
Framed: 56 1/2 x 75 7/8 inches (143.5 x 192.7 cm)

MEL BOCHNER

In 1994, as Two Palms founder David Lasry was first setting up the studio on Varick Street and the hydraulic press was being delivered, the artist Mel Bochner—who was Lasry’s professor at Yale at the time—happened to walk by. Bochner became Two Palms’ first artist; for nearly three decades, he has used the studio to continually explore the possibilities of language and shape.

A mixed media artwork by Mel Bochner, titled What Were You Thinking? / Are You Out Of Your Fucking Mind? / Do I Have To Draw You A Picture?, dated 2021.

Mel Bochner

What Were You Thinking? / Are You Out Of Your Fucking Mind? / Do I Have To Draw You A Picture?, 2021
Monoprint in oil with collage, engraving, and embossment on handmade paper
90 x 90 inches (228.6 x 228.6 cm)
Framed: 95 x 98 1/2 inches (241.3 x 250.2 cm)

Bochner packs oil paint into deeply engraved acrylic plates, covers them with pulpy paper, and uses the hydraulic press to infuse the paint into the fiber to create a deeply embossed image. The resulting, richly textured works take on the appearance of sculptural reliefs.

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Printing studio photo painting letters

Oil paint is applied to acrylic plates featuring Bochner’s signature typeface. Photo by Thistle Brown

Oil paint is applied to acrylic plates featuring Bochner’s signature typeface. Photo by Thistle Brown

Artist handling print in studio, 2021

Bochner has made both monoprints and editioned prints at Two Palms. Here, the artist lays out text for an etching. Photo by Thistle Brown

Bochner has made both monoprints and editioned prints at Two Palms. Here, the artist lays out text for an etching. Photo by Thistle Brown

Print pressing studio photo number 3

Bochner prepares a work for the press with David Lasry and the Two Palms staff. Photo by Thistle Brown

Bochner prepares a work for the press with David Lasry and the Two Palms staff. Photo by Thistle Brown

Photo of printing studio number 4

A workspace in the Two Palms studio, including the hydraulic press that exerts 750 tons of pressure onto a work’s surface. Photo by Thistle Brown

A workspace in the Two Palms studio, including the hydraulic press that exerts 750 tons of pressure onto a work’s surface. Photo by Thistle Brown

Printing studio number 5

Print racks at the Two Palms studio. Photo by Thistle Brown

Print racks at the Two Palms studio. Photo by Thistle Brown

Artist looking at a print in studio, 2021

Bochner with a new monoprint at Two Palms. Photo by Thistle Brown

Bochner with a new monoprint at Two Palms. Photo by Thistle Brown

A mixed media artwork by Mel Bochner, titled Blah, Blah, Blah, dated 2021.

Mel Bochner

Blah, Blah, Blah, 2021
Monoprint in three (3) parts in oil with collage, engraving, and embossment on handmade paper
85 x 93 inches (215.9 x 236.2 cm)
Framed: 90 1/4 x 97 5/8 inches (229.2 x 248 cm)

“If I knew what was going to happen in the print studio today, I wouldn’t have gotten out of bed.” 
—Mel Bochner

CHRIS OFILI

Chris Ofili pressing print in studio, 2021

Chris Ofili at Two Palms, 2021. Photo by David Lasry

Chris Ofili at Two Palms, 2021. Photo by David Lasry

Chris Ofili has worked with Two Palms since 2006, embracing the unknown outcomes of the printing process to make work that continues his ongoing investigation of desire, identity, and representation.

A mixed media artwork by Chris Ofili, titled Archer's sunset, dated 2021.

Chris Ofili

Archer's sunset, 2021
Woodcut monoprint with raw pigments and gold leaf
22 3/4 x 32 3/4 inches (57.8 x 83.2 cm)
Framed: 24 1/4 x 34 1/2 inches (61.6 x 87.6 cm)

Much of Ofili’s work since 2010 has addressed themes of transformation that derive from Greek and Roman mythology. To create woodcut monoprints featuring satyrs, archers, and other pseudo-mythological subjects, he uses a microplane to grate pastel pigment onto wood blocks. The image transfers to paper through the magic of Two Palms’ hydraulic press. Ofili says, “The process is liberating because it has no burden of the known.”

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A mixed media artwork by Chris Ofili, titled All-seeing eye, dated 2021.

Chris Ofili

All-seeing eye, 2021
Woodcut monoprint with raw pigments and gold leaf
22 3/4 x 32 3/4 inches (57.8 x 83.2 cm)
Framed: 24 1/4 x 34 1/2 inches (61.6 x 87.6 cm)
A mixed media artwork by Chris Ofili, titled Pink Afternoon, dated 2021.

Chris Ofili

Pink Afternoon, 2021
Etching on Suminagashi painting
40 x 28 inches (101.6 x 71.1 cm)
Framed: 43 1/4 x 31 1/4 inches (109.9 x 79.4 cm)

Ofili’s Suminagashi monoprints use the chance effects of a Japanese paper marbling technique to create unique chine collé backgrounds for etchings based on Stéphane Mallarmé’s 1876 poem L’après-midi d’un faune. Ofili interpreted Mallarmé’s poem through his own context and surroundings, in colors that reflect the volcanic ash and coral pink sand of Barbados.

STANLEY WHITNEY

“my hand really showed up in the monoprints. There was more gesture and mark making, and the color layered differently. They felt more alive and had more immediacy than those acrylic paintings I was doing in the early ’80s. I thought, You know what? I’m getting rid of the acrylic and going back to oil paint.”
—stanley whitney

A mixed media artwork by Stanley Whitney, titled Untitled, dated 2021.

Stanley Whitney

Untitled, 2021
Monotype in watercolor and crayon on Lanaquarelle paper
47 3/4 x 67 3/4 inches (121.3 x 172.1 cm)
Framed: 51 x 71 1/8 inches (129.5 x 180.7 cm)
A mixed media artwork by Stanley Whitney, titled Untitled, dated 2021.

Stanley Whitney

Untitled, 2021
Monotype in watercolor and crayon on Lanaquarelle paper
47 3/4 x 67 3/4 inches (121.3 x 172.1 cm)
Framed: 51 x 71 1/8 inches (129.5 x 180.7 cm)

Stanley Whitney’s monotypes feature his characteristic grid formation, comprising numerous rows of richly colored rectangles arranged loosely within a larger rectangle.

The artist applies watercolor and crayon to a smooth wood block, resulting in a wood grain that is faintly visible in the final print. While this process resembles Whitney’s painting practice, he enjoys the immediacy and the call-and-response nature of the monotype process.


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ELIZABETH PEYTON

A mixed media artwork by Elizabeth Peyton, titled Titian After Titian 1, dated 2021.

Elizabeth Peyton

Titian After Titian 1, 2021
Monotype in oil on handmade paper
43 1/2 x 31 1/2 inches (110.5 x 80 cm)
Framed: 47 7/8 x 35 3/4 inches (121.6 x 90.8 cm)

Elizabeth Peyton’s representation of the Italian Renaissance painter Titian—a recurring subject in her paintings—was made following a pilgrimage to Venice and to the small village where Titian was born. Here, Peyton works with oil paint on Plexiglas, which is then printed on handmade paper in the hydraulic press.

Detail of Elizabeth Peyton, Titian After Titian 1, 2021

Elizabeth Peyton, Titian After Titian 1, 2021 (detail)

Elizabeth Peyton, Titian After Titian 1, 2021 (detail)

Detail of Elizabeth Peyton’s Titian After Titian 2, 2021, the second print in the artist’s series depicting Titian made at Two Palms.

Elizabeth Peyton, Titian After Titian 2, 2021 (detail)

Elizabeth Peyton, Titian After Titian 2, 2021 (detail)

After the first printing, the artist returns to the plate and reworks the image that remains. A faint ghost image of the first print resides with newly added marks in the second, a process that often results in unexpected and complex compositions.

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A mixed media artwork by Elizabeth Peyton, titled Elias 2, dated 2021.

Elizabeth Peyton

Elias 2, 2021
Monotype in oil on handmade paper
31 x 23 inches (78.7 x 58.4 cm)
Framed: 34 3/4 x 26 3/4 inches (88.3 x 67.9 cm)

“historically, prints have typically been the afterword to a work. But for me it’s a foreword. Often I’ll make a work after something I make in the print studio.”
—Elizabeth Peyton

CARROLL DUNHAM

A mixed media artwork by Carroll Dunham, titled Untitled, Dec. 11. 2019, dated 2019.

Carroll Dunham

Untitled, Dec. 11, 2019, 2019
Monotype in watercolor and pencil on Lanaquarelle paper
39 5/8 x 32 inches (100.6 x 81.3 cm)
Framed: 43 7/8 x 36 inches (111.4 x 91.4 cm)

“sometimes it’s out ahead of my paintings … sometimes it’s a way to reflect on things I’ve made, sometimes it’s a parallel train of thought that never really crosses over into my paiNTings.… But I do feel strongly that the procedures and the materiality of printmaking have had a big effect on what I could imagine things could look like.”
—CARROLL DUNHAM

 
A mixed media artwork by Carroll Dunham, titled Untitled (2B), dated 2009.

Carroll Dunham

Untitled (2B), 2009
Monotype in watercolor and pencil on Lanaquarelle paper
35 x 43 inches (88.9 x 109.2 cm)
Framed: 39 1/2 x 47 inches (100.3 x 119.4 cm)

This group of monotypes exemplifies the distinctive watercolor monotype process that Carroll Dunham pioneered at Two Palms. The works relate to long-standing motifs within the artist’s practice, including wrestlers, bathers, and trees.

Dunham applies watercolor to large wood blocks that are dried with hair dryers just before printing. The use of watercolor enables him to work without a time limit because the pigment does not dry quickly on the plate. The development of this process opened up new pathways for other artists as well, including Schutz, who uses the same watercolor process in her works.


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MARINA ADAMS

A mixed media artwork by Marina Adams, titled Untitled, dated 2021.

Marina Adams

Untitled, 2021
Monotype in watercolor on Lanaquarelle paper
49 5/8 x 39 3/4 inches (126 x 101 cm)
Framed: 53 x 43 inches (134.6 x 109.2 cm)

“There’s always the surprise element … you just really never know what it looks like on the board or the plate … and because of that, it pushes you to experiment, and that’s just fantastic.”
—Marina Adams

A mixed media artwork by Marina Adams, titled Untitled, dated 2021.

Marina Adams

Untitled, 2021
Monotype in watercolor on Lanaquarelle paper
49 3/4 x 39 3/4 inches (126.4 x 101 cm)
Framed: 53 x 43 inches (134.6 x 109.2 cm)

Marina Adams, like Dunham, Schutz, and Whitney, paints with watercolor on a wood block. Once printed, the work is complete—Adams does not rework or hand-embellish her monotypes. The resulting images are bold, decisive testaments to the immediacy of the monotype process.

Adams began this group of monotypes just prior to the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020. These unique prints focus on the artist’s interest in working on a larger scale and exemplify her use of line, color, form, and movement.

TERRY WINTERS

A mixed media artwork by Terry Winters, titled Portrait 11/8, dated 2021.

Terry Winters

Portrait II/8, 2021
Monoprint with additions in pencil, crayon, and oil
43 x 35 inches (109.2 x 88.9 cm)
Framed: 46 7/8 x 38 3/4 inches (119.1 x 98.4 cm)

Terry Winters has pursued etching, woodcut, screenprinting, and monoprinting since the early 1980s. For his more recent prints, Winters works from preparatory drawings made prior to beginning the printing process, which are then scanned into a computer and laser engraved onto an acrylic plate.

This work is from a group of monotypes Winters made at Two Palms. A silhouette of a figure emerges, overlaid with Winters’s characteristic patterning and rendered in a subtle color palette.


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A mixed media artwork by Terry Winters, titled Portrait I/5, dated 2021.

Terry Winters

Portrait I/5, 2021
Monoprint with additions in pencil, crayon, and oil
43 x 35 inches (109.2 x 88.9 cm)
Framed: 46 7/8 x 38 3/4 inches (119.1 x 98.4 cm)

peter doig

An untitled work on paper by Peter Doig, dated 2011.

Peter Doig

Untitled, 2011
Monotype in watercolor, pure pigment, and colored pencil on Lanaquarelle paper
42 1/4 x 55 inches (107.3 x 139.7 cm)
Framed: 56 1/2 x 69 1/4 inches (143.5 x 175.9 cm)
A detail of a monotype titled Untitled by Peter Doig depicts a head of a bird, dated 2011

Peter Doig, Untitled, 2011 (detail)

Peter Doig, Untitled, 2011 (detail)

Peter Doig, whose renowned paintings draw from a variety of sources, including his surroundings in Trinidad and his interest in birdwatching, made his first print with Two Palms in 2008; printmaking plays an integral role in his wider practice. This monotype combines the “ghost image”—made from the second printing of a plate that Doig drew and painted on—with watercolor newly applied by the artist, resulting in the dreamlike quality that distinguishes his atmospheric compositions.

Peter Doig in his studio with the background of his prints hanging on the wall and laying on the desk, dated 2021

Two Palms founder David Lasry in the studio, 2021. Photo by Max Farago

Two Palms founder David Lasry in the studio, 2021. Photo by Max Farago

“Even as monoprints and monotypes have become more widely understood and circulated, we still find ourselves with the ability to be stunned by the results of our trial and error, interrupting the rote, systematized understanding of printmaking.”
—David Lasry

Video footage of Stanley Whitney and Carroll Dunham by Sam Fleischner, 2021. Courtesy Two Palms

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