Mungo Thomson & Do Ho Suh

Do Ho Suh
Two New Lithographs by Do Ho Suh
Highpoint Editions is thrilled to present our first two lithographs created in collaboration with visiting artist Do Ho Suh: 'Karma Juggler' and 'Untitled'. Through his artistic practice, Suh contemplates fundamental questions which often prove to be the most difficult to answer: who are we, where are we from, and where are we going? The artist’s decidedly karmic approach suggests human interconnectedness and individual identity are linked both spatially and temporally.

The internationally renowned Korean-born artist began his exploration into these complex topics with his drawings. Although Suh is also famous for his sculptures and installations, his drawings are paramount to his unique visual language which has evolved throughout his career. 'Karma Juggler' personifies the many influences and acquired knowledge that inform each person’s perceptions while 'Untitled' poignantly represents the experiences of those who came before us and how each person is differently affected by those influences. The ethereal subject matter and the immediacy of Suh’s drawing style are exquisitely represented in both of these lithographs, exemplified in the medium’s rich tonal range and incredible ability to capture subtle details.

Mungo Thomson
'The Forest' and 'Human Behavior'
Highpoint Editions announces the release of two new prints resulting from a recent collaboration with Los Angeles-based artist Mungo Thomson. Thomson’s work is deeply rooted in the legacy of Conceptual art and often employs a strong connection between language and image. His latest project with highpoint is no exception. Based on Time-Life® books, a popular series of general interest volumes published in the sixties and seventies, the prints focus on two subject areas within the series: Human Behavior (published in 1976) and the Nature Library (published in 1961).

In 'The Forest' and 'Human Behavior' two large screenprints are conceived by the artist as a pair meant to immerse the viewer in the contrast between wilderness and civilization. In 'Human Behavior', the books’ spines create a dense barrier, while 'The Forest' seems enterable, like a door or window into the natural world. Thomson’s fascination with Time-Life® books, which he regards as a type of proto-internet (a readily available source of a great deal of information) has inspired much of his recent work in other media.

'Pocket Universe' series
In Mungo Thomson’s latest collaboration with Highpoint Editions, 'Pocket Universe', the Los Angeles-based conceptual artist focuses on the overlooked and the everyday, and invites the viewer to contemplate what is hiding in plain sight.

'Pocket Universe' is a series of unique blind embossed artworks created by running Thomson’s pocket change through a printing press with aluminum or copper foil. Printed in collaboration with Master Printer Cole Rogers and Highpoint staff, their reflective surfaces are pristine, making visible every detail of each coin in the fragile foil. The work is the result of pairing two materials close at hand-embossing foil, commonly used in printmaking to achieve metallic effects, and loose coins. The configuration of coins in each artwork is the result of the artist placing the coins in his pocket onto the press bed. The resulting chance-based reliefs call to mind constellations, arrays of planets, or craters in lunar surfaces, whose positioning and movement in outer space are determined by innumerable forces. Even the spaces between the coins become shiny, flawless expanses that are strictly bound by their surrounding constellation.

This exhibition has been extended until October 15, 2016.