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Edgar Arceneaux — Beyond the Great Eclipse:Burn Baby Burn
Edgar Arceneaux

Beyond the Great Eclipse:Burn Baby Burn

2009

Beyond the Great Eclipse: Burn Baby Burn presents a charged collision of historical memory and formal invention, rendered through the exacting craft of direct to plate photogravure etching and aquatint. Arceneaux, whose practice draws deeply from archival material, vernacular culture, and the residue of contested American narratives, brings those preoccupations into a tightly controlled print format that rewards close inspection. The aquatint grounds produce rich tonal gradations, while the photogravure passages carry the indexical weight of photographic source material, creating a surface that is simultaneously documentary and spectral. The title invokes both astronomical phenomena and the incendiary phrase that became synonymous with the 1965 Watts Rebellion, layering cosmic scale against the urgency of street-level upheaval. Paulson Fontaine Press, with whom Arceneaux developed this edition, is known for collaborations that treat printmaking as a medium of genuine artistic ambition rather than reproduction, and this work reflects that commitment fully. Printed in an edition of forty and signed by the artist, the piece carries the intimacy of a limited work made with sustained attention. At 63.5 by 44.5 centimeters, the scale is neither monumental nor modest, but precisely calibrated to draw the viewer into its surface rather than command a room from a distance. For collectors interested in the intersection of conceptual rigor and material refinement, this print represents Arceneaux at a productive intersection of his research-driven practice and the physical demands of intaglio process.

Medium
Direct to plate photogravure etching and aquatint
Sheet
Signed
Yes
Location
Paulson Fontaine Press, Berkeley, CA

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About this work

Edgar Arceneaux, Beyond the Great Eclipse:Burn Baby Burn, 2009

Beyond the Great Eclipse: Burn Baby Burn presents a charged collision of historical memory and formal invention, rendered through the exacting craft of direct to plate photogravure etching and aquatint. Arceneaux, whose practice draws deeply from archival material, vernacular culture, and the residue of contested American narratives, brings those preoccupations into a tightly controlled print format that rewards close inspection. The aquatint grounds produce rich tonal gradations, while the photogravure passages carry the indexical weight of photographic source material, creating a surface that is simultaneously documentary and spectral. The title invokes both astronomical phenomena and the incendiary phrase that became synonymous with the 1965 Watts Rebellion, layering cosmic scale against the urgency of street-level upheaval. Paulson Fontaine Press, with whom Arceneaux developed this edition, is known for collaborations that treat printmaking as a medium of genuine artistic ambition rather than reproduction, and this work reflects that commitment fully. Printed in an edition of forty and signed by the artist, the piece carries the intimacy of a limited work made with sustained attention. At 63.5 by 44.5 centimeters, the scale is neither monumental nor modest, but precisely calibrated to draw the viewer into its surface rather than command a room from a distance. For collectors interested in the intersection of conceptual rigor and material refinement, this print represents Arceneaux at a productive intersection of his research-driven practice and the physical demands of intaglio process.

Medium
Direct to plate photogravure etching and aquatint
Dimensions
sheet: 63.5 x 44.5 cm
Year
2009
Edition
of 40
Signed
Hand-signed by the artist
Seen at
Paulson Fontaine Press, Berkeley, CA

Related themes

Mohn Art Collective

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