(English below)

EDICIÓN LIMITADA 
Obras en formato multiple de Walter Álvarez, Bianki, Pablo Cabrera, Mariana Chiesa, Decur, Irana Douer, Mercedes Dutto, Delfina Estrada, Daniel García, Lola Goldstein, Isol, Carlos Masoch, María Elina Méndez, Liliana Porter, Ana Laura Pérez, Cristian Turdera, Viky Vitar, Ral Veroni y Sofìa Wiñazki
29 junio – 17 agosto 2013

¿Qué es una edición limitada? En el caso de las artes plásticas una edición es una obra que existe en forma múltiple. El número de impresos de esa obra es limitado a unos pocos ejemplares, numerados y firmados por el artista. 

El grabado tradicional es usado para producir una impresión original: una obra de arte donde el carácter artesanal y cuidado hace que las ediciones sean de poco tiraje. 

El aguafuerte consiste en una plancha de metal cubierta de barniz. El artista realiza con una punta un dibujo levantando el barniz por donde pasa su trazo. Así, la plancha se sumerge en ácido el cual comerá las partes expuestas. La imagen queda grabada, la tinta se aplica dentro de los surcos y con cuidado se limpia la superficie. La imagen es transferida al papel usando una prensa. Delfina Estrada y Sofía Wiñazki exponen aguafuertes en este muestra. El fotograbado funciona con el mismo principio solo que la imagen es grabada por medio de una emulsión fotosensible. María Elina Méndez trabajó junto a Lorena Pradal del taller AB Uno para realizar su edición para esta exposición.

La serigrafía consiste en un bastidor con una malla sintética donde el artista bloquea ciertas partes y deja expuesto el diseño que desea imprimir. La tinta es presionada y solo pasa a través de la trama abierta de esta matriz a la superficie del papel. Bianki, Pablo Cabrera y Mariana Chiesa exponen serigrafías.
En litografía el artista realiza su imagen en materiales grasos sobre un bloque de piedra. Se moja la piedra y se aplica tinta oleosa con un rodillo. Por la separación del agua y el aceite la tinta se adhiere solo sobre el dibujo. Liliana Porter trabajó con el maestro impresor Bill Lagatutta del Instituto Tamarind para producir la litografía que nos honra presentar en esta exposición. 

En adición a las técnicas manuales la introducción de las impresiones digitales de alta gama llamadas giclée ha transformado el espectro de obra en edición. Hoy artistas pueden crear una imagen en computadora y producir una edición de impresiónes originales en giclée. Cristian Turdera es uno de los artistas más interesantes en este área.

La técnica del giclée ha provocado también una revolución en el campo de las reproducciones en edición limitada. Estas son reproducciones de obras ya existentes, en general pinturas. En el pasado la producción en offset era la habitual para imprimir miles de copias, tomadas de fotografías. El artista comúnmente no participaba de este proceso y la reproducción de los colores no era la más exacta. Al día de hoy con buen juicio en la selección del trabajo se puede obtener una reproducción de excelente calidad a través de escaneos de alta definición. Estas reproducciones giclée pueden ser hechas en pequeñas cantidades. Carlos Masoch produjo para esta exposición una edición limitada en giclée con la asistencia de Megaphoto Fine Art. De igual manera Daniel García trabajó junto al estudio Wintus para realizar su edición en la que cada obra es intervenida individualmente después de impresa, haciendo de cada una de ellas una pieza única dentro de una edición variada.

¿Que garantía hay de que el artista producirá solamente una edición de la imagen y la cantidad que certifica con su firma? Como con tantas otras cuestiones la garantía se sostiene con la reputación del artista y de la galería. En Galería Mar Dulce tomamos nuestro trabajo seriamente y a la obra del artista con enorme respeto. Es nuestro deseo que esta exposición despierte la atención de lo que las ediciones limitadas tienen para ofrecer: la posibilidad de adquirir obra de artistas admirados a un precio más cercano a nuestros presupuestos, apostar por un artista emergente o simplemente llenar nuestro hogar con el arte que amamos y que nos acompañará en el disfrute de los días.

Galería Mar Dulce se especializa en obras de pequeño y mediano formato de pintura, dibujo, grabado, fotografía, libros de artista y objetos, realizadas por artistas rioplatenses clásicos y contemporáneos. Junto a Edición limitada presentamos +COLECTIVA22, una selección de obras realizadas por Tulio de Sagastizábal, Mariano Grassi, Daniel Santoro, Raoul Veroni, Cecilia Afonso Estévez, Sophie Spandonis, Adriana Torres, Marina Aizen y con la artista internacional invitada Ashley Cook de Escocia. 

LIMITED EDITION 
works in multiple by Walter Álvarez, Bianki, Mariana Chiesa, Decur, Irana Douer, Pablo Cabrera, Daniel García, Lola Goldstein, Isol, María Elina Méndez, Mercedes Dutto, Delfina Estrada, Ana Laura Pérez, Carlos Masoch, Liliana Porter, Cristian Turdera, Viky Vitar, Ral Veroni y Sofìa Wiñazki
29 June – 17 August 2013



What is a limited edition? In the case of art, an edition is an artwork that exists in multiple form. The number of works in a limited edition is -as the name suggests- restricted. Each artwork in the edition is individually numbered and signed by the artist as their guarantee of its authenticity. An artwork numbered 1/10 for example is the first in a limited edition of 10. While each work in the edition is the same, in some cases they can be intervened by the artist (perhaps with an element as simple as the addition of a single painted brushstroke) to make each work unique within what we call a varied limited edition.

 
Traditional techniques of printmaking can be employed to produce an original print in limited edition: an artwork that has been conceived of and that only exists as a print. As the works are hand printed normally the editions are small, anything from 3 to 100 prints, but normally between 10 and 20. In addition to the numbered prints 1/10 etc, the artist keeps a print for themselves, identified with the letters A/P for artist's proof. If the artist is unfamiliar with printmaking and produces the edition working alongside a printer there is also a P/P: printer’s proof. Various test prints can be produced before arriving at a print that the artist is satisfied with. Test prints are thrown away and the first good print -the standard to which all others in the edition have to reach before being signed by the artist- is identified with the letters B.A.T. (in French bon à tirer; ‘ready to print’).

A multitude of artistic printmaking techniques exist, with many variations and combinations, of which we can outline only a few: 

In woodcut, the oldest technique, the artist creates an image by carving out the flat plane of a block of wood. Ink is applied to the remaining raised sections and when paper is applied, using the pressure of a press, the ink transfers the image of the artwork to the paper. Woodcut prints are easily recognizable for their bold lines and the texture of the wood can often be noted in the print. 

In etching, a metal plate is covered with acid-resistant material and the artist uses special tools to scratch their image into the surface. The plate is then dipped into acid and the drawing is eaten into the plate. The cleaned plate is inked and wiped, in this case leaving ink in the eaten out lines (the opposite of woodcut) to be transferred to paper using a press. Prints produced from plates can be identified by the indented line that the plate leaves when pressed against the paper. 

Photogravure and photopolymer work with on the same principal as etching, but here the artist begins with a drawn or photographic image on a sheet of film, which is exposed onto a plate coated with light-sensitive material. María Elina Méndez worked with Lorena Pradal of ABUno to produce her photopolymer edition for this exhibition and Viky Vitar has brought photopolymer and screenprinting together to produce her work.


In screen printing the artist cuts out ink-blocking stencils and applies them to a mesh screen. When ink is pushed across the screen it passes through to the paper below only in the un-stencilled areas. The artist uses one screen for each colour to build up the artwork on the paper layer by layer. Screenprints have characteristic bold flat sections of colour. Bianki, Mariana Chiesa and Pablo Cabrera exhibit screenprints.


In lithography the image is drawn or painted onto a flat polished limestone or metal plate using oil-based media. The artist applies a solution to the surface to create an ink repellent layer on all undrawn areas then the greasy drawing material is cleaned off. When the stone or plate is inked, the ink adheres only to the drawn areas. Although technically difficult, prints with up to 4 different colours can be built up using different stones. As lithographs transfer a drawn or painted image onto paper, they can be the most difficult to tell apart from one-off artworks directly on paper. The great Liliana Porter has worked with the master-printers of the world renowned Tamarind Institute in 2000 and 2013 to produce her original lithographic editions, one of which we are honoured to present in this exhibition. 

Much public confusion arises from the use of a modern mechanized process known as lithographic offset to produce reproduction prints, normally of paintings and normally in editions of 1000s. In this case the artist’s painting is photographed and the image is transferred to a metal plate to be mass printed. The artist is very unlikely to be involved at all in the process. These limited edition offset reproductions can appear to be numbered and signed in the same manner as original prints, although most commonly the artist’s signature is also printed. They are often sold using the deliberately vague term “limited edition fine art prints”, leading the public to believe they are original artworks. If in any doubt, using a magnifying glass to look at the print it is easy to identify the neat mechanical dot pattern of an offset lithographic reproduction as opposed to the random dots of an original lithographic print. Galería Mar Dulce does not work with offset reproductions.


The introduction of giclée (a type of digital inkjet printing with its name originating from the French gicler meaning ‘to spray’) has transformed the area of editioned art in recent years. With good judgement in the selection of artwork that will work well in reproduction and the use of quality materials by technically skilled printers, impeccable giclée reproduction prints can be produced. Due to the substantially higher production costs compared with offset and the fact that prints can be produced one at a time rather than in mass, giclée reproductions are not only much higher quality than offset reproductions, there is also a tendency for the editions to be comparable in size to those of original prints. In this exibition, we are delighted to present limited edition giclée reproductions by the great artists Daniel García and Carlos Masoch, produced with the artists working alongside giclée printers Wintus and Megaphoto Fine Art. In the case of DG, his edition is intervened, making each of the works unique. 

Giclée has also opened the door to the new area of original giclée prints, prints from digital archives, conceived of and only existing as giclées. Cristian Turdera is one of the most interesting artists working in this field today and in many cases his editions are also intervened.


Finally, the question that always arises: What guarantee is there that the artist will produce only one edition of the image, or only the quantity of prints stated? As with many other questions in art, it comes down to the reputation of the artist and the gallery that they work with: if either steps out of accepted codes of conduct, the word soon spreads and reputations, careers and businesses are lost. In Galería Mar Dulce we take our work very seriously. We greatly admire the talented artists of Limited Edition and the beautiful artworks that they have produced. We hope that this exhibition will open eyes to the possibilities that limited editions offer us to own a work by a greatly admired artist who would normally be beyond our budget, to take a bet on an interesting emergent artist or simply to fill our walls with art that we love and whose company we will enjoy every day.

Galería Mar Dulce specializes in small and medium format artwork in painting, drawing, print, photography, artists' books and objects, realized by contemporary and classic Argentine and Uruguayan artists. To accompany Casi boyitas we present +COLLECTIVE22, a specially curated selection of works by Tulio de Sagastizábal, Mariano Grassi, Daniel Santoro, Raoul Veroni, Cecilia Afonso Estévez, Sophie Spandonis, Adriana Torres, Marina Aizen and with our specially invited international artist Ashley Cook of Scotland.