At a time when activism has become an increasingly relevant part of many an artist’s agenda it is valuable to tack a step back and look at those who came before. One of the early artists-activists in Germany was HAP Grieshaber (1909-81) whose work brings together the tradition of the woodcut with figurative abstractions and pointed commentaries on the world surrounding him.
As a trained typesetter who for many reasons never completed his formal artistic education Grieshaber had a natural affinity for woodcutting and already during the 1930s developed a significant body of work, even though the NS regime banned him from working or exhibiting. In 1940 Grieshaber was drafted and survived the war as radio operator in Alsace until he was taken POW and interned in Belgium. After his release he returned to Southern Germany and lived on a small cottage on the Achalm near Reutlingen where Grieshaber focused on large-format woodcuts in which he channeled the hardships of his internment but also the many travels he undertook in the postwar decades. In view of the German division Grieshaber in his art advocated a future reunification and rapprochement between the two Germanys. But he didn’t limit his activism to Germany alone since he equally addressed contemporary events like the Greek military junta, the ban on whale hunting, the Korean War or the military coup in Chile. In his impressive woodcuts Grieshaber combined word and art in order to stand up for the oppressed and those without a lobby, namely also nature and its increasing destruction.
In the exhibition „HAP Grieshaber - Form/Sprache“ (Form/Language) the Museum Wiesbaden until January 21, 2024 highlights the permanent juxtaposition of form and language in all of the artist’s artistic phases and the clear stand he took with regards to political and societal developments. In the accompanying catalogue, published by Hirmer Verlag, the editor Jörg Daur and curator Jana Dennhard, among others, shed further light on the personality and motivations of HAP Grieshaber and provide additional starting points for a rediscovery of this deeply humane artist.
Wassily Kandinsky (Russian, 1866-1944) • Lyrical • 1911 • Woodcut from an illustrated book of prose-poems by Kandinsky, containing fifty-six woodcuts • Published 1913 • Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam
Composition #4, hand carved woodcut print of Mount Pleasant train station in Canada. These are quite fun and relaxing to make even though its less forgiving than painting - if a mistake is made during the carving process you can't exactly fix it :P. The fact that I had no issues with the carving is great :D.
The woodcut is limited edition printed by hand on beautiful paper with a mixture of cotton and paper pulp made in France(yes I am nerding out about paper). Each print is numbered and signed by me and comes with a written thank you note :D.
The print is 20.5 cm x 15.5 cm , 8 inch x 6 inch.
Paper is 24 cm x 18 cm, 9.5 inch x 7 inch
Woodcut prints. For this one I wanted to experiment with different colours when it comes to printing and different shapes and styles. I wanted to create more abstract using block lines. My inspiration was the human body and its different shapes and forms. I used a block of wood with a carver and black and red ink as well as a printing press.