Ted Fullerton | Stoned: Selected Stone Lithographs by Ted Fullerton
Ted Fullerton | Stoned: Selected Stone Lithographs by Ted Fullerton
July 11-31, 2024
Bau-Xi Gallery | Dufferin, Upper Floor Gallery
1384 Dufferin Street, Toronto
Opening Reception: Thursday, July 11th, 5-8 PM | ARTIST IN ATTENDANCE
Bau-Xi Gallery | Dufferin is thrilled to announce the profound new solo exhibition Stoned: Selected Stone Lithographs by Ted Fullerton by award-winning artist, Ted Fullerton. In this new series, the artist addresses the art-form of Printmaking as one of the most misunderstood mediums. Fullerton reflects on his own practice and involvement in Printmaking to unveil the magic of the ritualistic creation process and the uniqueness of each finished piece.
Artist Statement:
"Printmaking: A Ritual within process - Reflecting on the art-form of Printmaking.
Ritual: A ceremony consisting of a series of actions performed according to a prescribed order.
Within the breadth of art mediums, the art-form of Printmaking is one of the most misunderstood, or should I say misinterpreted. It would be fair to say, in most cases, it is with the notion of a multiple image, which is falsely aligned with the process of commercial reproduction. One only needs to consider significant artists that have dedicated themselves to the medium, such as Kiki Smith, Rita Letendre, Jeannie Thib, Otis Tamasauskas, David Blackwood, Stu Oxley, Frederick Hagan, Edvard Munch, Mimmo Paladino, Helen Frankenthaler, Kathe Kollwitz, George Baselitz – among many others - to understand the uniqueness of what this art-form brings to artistic self-expression.
Reflecting on my own passionate involvement for, and with this medium, has allowed me to consider why expressing myself in Printmaking - specifically Stone Lithography - has been a long-lasting commitment since my formative years at the Ontario College of Art (OCA) during the 1970’s.
Within my first year at the OCA, I was introduced to this medium by the Head of Printmaking, Frederick Hagan, who I subsequently came to consider a mentor and a lifelong friend. Prior to attending Hagan’s first class, I was not aware of the art-form as a creative and expressive medium. However, after viewing a portfolio of very diverse artists and their work within the medium that he presented, I was immediately “hooked”.
Although I have worked in different mediums under the umbrella of printmaking since those early days, stone lithography has been my central passion over the subsequent 45 years of my art practice. I could go into length about the experience of drawing on stone, its unique visual aesthetic - and the process in realizing the limited edition - but let me say it is “extraordinary” for me. The materials and process’s “seductive nature" naturally invite my attraction to the symbolic image making that are sourced and coalesce from a place of merging associations.
To address the “elephant in the room”: what makes the art of printmaking different from reproduction, as they are both realized as a multiple image? Reproduction is a photo mechanical process where each image is reproduced exactly as the previous one in an unlimited number and mainly geared for commercial enterprise. However, the art of Printmaking allows for multiples of an image from a matrix created directly from the artist’s involvement or hand, followed by a repetitive - “ritualistic” - process of creation (hand-printing). Although the intent, in most cases, is to produce a limited edition of prints that are similar, this hand-made process renders each work slightly different by its own nature.
Ultimately, as an artist, I express myself in several different mediums - drawing, painting, sculpture, and printmaking. That said, each of these approaches develops from the basis of drawing. Drawing is the “soul” source of my visual expression, and I quickly realized all those years ago at OCA that printmaking offered a “differing” way of drawing, while using diverse - and sometimes unconventional - means, surfaces, and tools.
The process of creating and realizing unique, multiple images within the medium has become “ritualistic” in process, and a frame of mind - an essential aspect of creation for me.
Philosopher - Friedrich Schleiermacher
To read a text is a discourse between the interpreter and the text itself, but the text is at the same time a construction between the internal thoughts of the author and the language he (they) has used for it."
Ted Fullerton works in contemporary painting, printmaking and sculpture, and has achieved numerous awards including the Juror's Award in the CIM Centennial Art Competition and the Boston Printmaker's Juried Exhibition award. His notable commissions include sculptures for the City of Kitchener and the Davenport Architectural Corp. Ted Fullerton graduated from the Ontario College of Art in 1976. In 1993 and 1994, he was artist-in-residence at Cape Dorset and at Canadore College in North Bay.