Brice Marden

Gagosian is pleased to announce Etched Letters, an exhibition of editioned prints, unpublished proofs, and related drawings produced by Brice Marden between 2007 and 2012, on view at the Burlington Arcade gallery from October 10 to November 29. Curated by the Estate of Brice Marden, this is the first gallery display of Marden’s prints in London, and reflects the artist’s dedication to printmaking, which began in the 1960s and continued throughout his career.

While his 2006–07 retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, was traveling, Marden embarked on an international trip of his own. At the National Palace Museum in Taipei, he encountered “Seven-character Poem (Besotted by Flower Vapors)” (1087), a Song dynasty verse by Huang T’ing-chien (1045–1105). This example of Chinese calligraphy, which was mounted to an album page with blank borders on both vertical edges, inspired Marden to make the first drawings in what became the Letter paintings and works on paper.

Beginning in 2007, Marden worked with master printmaker Jennifer Melby to produce a set of etchings derived from the Letters of Gratitude drawings—works that had been made as tokens of appreciation for help received during the lead up to the MoMA retrospective. While the sheets were still in development, they were photographed, and printmaker Lothar Osterburg translated these images onto copper plates using photogravure, a process that replicated Marden’s original marks with a new tonal and textural character.