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A silkscreen, printed in multiple colors, Words F.A.F.A. is somber in tone. A blue-gray rectangular field with irregular edges dominates the image. The edges could reference the deckled edges of the handmade paper on which the image is printed, or the rectangle could resemble a piece of fabric with frayed edges. A second screenprinting in white ink was laid down in numerous lines of cursive text, too minute to be legible. On closer inspection, a second color of taupe ink can be detected, and this seems to break up the regularity of linear spacing.
Baranik’s silkscreen is from A Portfolio of Thirteen Prints published by the Anthology Film Archives in New York, 1982, and according to the accompanying notes was produced at Porter-Weiner Studio. Five other prints in the portfolio, including those by Josef Beuys, Andy Warhol, and May Stevens, Baranik’s wife, were printed at the same studio.
Words F.A.F.A. relates to the artist’s Word painting series from the early 1980s. Baranik recalled: “I did a painting now called Words 1. It had a subtle, holistic pulsation, writing which remained enigmatic, a discontinuous text of poetry, letters. But to me it was also an incantation, a plea. Our son, Steven, was struggling to maintain a balance, to hold on, and we tried many ways, without knowing which was the right one, to help him to life. In 1981 he left, having written to us an elegant farewell note. … I continued to work on the Words paintings, but their format and character started to change: I worked on unstretched canvases. … on large black rectangular fields using even more enigmatic small written marks. In these works…the content became to me more and more important than previously: I wrote long line after long line across the black field, stepping back to evaluate each line for its holistic pulsation while at the same time repeating to myself the lines of poetry I was putting down, often interspersed with long letters to my son.” [1]
Notes:
[1] Baranik, “Biographical Notes,” Rudolf Baranik Elegies: Sleep—Napalm—Night Sky (Columbus, OH: The Ohio State University Gallery of Fine Art, 1987), 83–84.
ProvenanceFrom 1984
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, NC, given by the American Art Foundation through The Pace Gallery, New York on March 20, 1984. [1]
Notes:
[1] Letter, March 20, 1984, object file.
Exhibition History2014-2015
Love & Loss
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, NC (10/11/2014-12/13/2015)
Published References
DepartmentAmerican Art
Words F.A.F.A.
Artist
Rudolf Baranik
(1920 - 1998)
Date1982
Mediumsilkscreen in colors on paper
DimensionsFrame: 42 3/4 x 31 1/2 in. (108.6 x 80 cm)
Paper: 38 1/2 x 27 1/2 in. (97.8 x 69.9 cm)
Image (approximate): 33 1/4 x 23 3/4 in. (84.5 x 60.3 cm)
SignedRudolf Baranik
Credit LineGift of the American Art Foundation
CopyrightCopyright Unknown
Object number1984.2.1.c
DescriptionAs a self-styled “social formalist,” Rudolf Baranik was best known for his protests against the Vietnam War. In 1981, however, a personal tragedy changed his outlook on life: the death by suicide of his son. Words F.A.F.A. was one of many attempts to deal with his grief. A silkscreen, printed in multiple colors, Words F.A.F.A. is somber in tone. A blue-gray rectangular field with irregular edges dominates the image. The edges could reference the deckled edges of the handmade paper on which the image is printed, or the rectangle could resemble a piece of fabric with frayed edges. A second screenprinting in white ink was laid down in numerous lines of cursive text, too minute to be legible. On closer inspection, a second color of taupe ink can be detected, and this seems to break up the regularity of linear spacing.
Baranik’s silkscreen is from A Portfolio of Thirteen Prints published by the Anthology Film Archives in New York, 1982, and according to the accompanying notes was produced at Porter-Weiner Studio. Five other prints in the portfolio, including those by Josef Beuys, Andy Warhol, and May Stevens, Baranik’s wife, were printed at the same studio.
Words F.A.F.A. relates to the artist’s Word painting series from the early 1980s. Baranik recalled: “I did a painting now called Words 1. It had a subtle, holistic pulsation, writing which remained enigmatic, a discontinuous text of poetry, letters. But to me it was also an incantation, a plea. Our son, Steven, was struggling to maintain a balance, to hold on, and we tried many ways, without knowing which was the right one, to help him to life. In 1981 he left, having written to us an elegant farewell note. … I continued to work on the Words paintings, but their format and character started to change: I worked on unstretched canvases. … on large black rectangular fields using even more enigmatic small written marks. In these works…the content became to me more and more important than previously: I wrote long line after long line across the black field, stepping back to evaluate each line for its holistic pulsation while at the same time repeating to myself the lines of poetry I was putting down, often interspersed with long letters to my son.” [1]
Notes:
[1] Baranik, “Biographical Notes,” Rudolf Baranik Elegies: Sleep—Napalm—Night Sky (Columbus, OH: The Ohio State University Gallery of Fine Art, 1987), 83–84.
ProvenanceFrom 1984
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, NC, given by the American Art Foundation through The Pace Gallery, New York on March 20, 1984. [1]
Notes:
[1] Letter, March 20, 1984, object file.
Exhibition History2014-2015
Love & Loss
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, NC (10/11/2014-12/13/2015)
Published References
Status
Not on viewCollections