Serigraphy
What is "serigraphy"? It is also called "silk-screen",
but there are some good reasons for the two different terms.
I had the pleasure of talking to Anthony Velonis (NYC) several
years ago. He is the man who "invented" the term "serigraphy".
The year was 1940 and Velonis was working for the WPA as head of the Fine
Art Project. He had published a booklet in 1937 entitled "Technical
Problems of the Artist: Technique of the Silk Screen Process". But
"technical" were not the only problems that he faced in those
WPA years. He had in his FAP a large number of fine artists, who because
of the desperate economics of the time were working for this government
project. He told me that he saw much depression and self-esteem loss within
the artist's ranks. And he wanted to do something that would distinguish
these fine artists and their silk-screened posters from the early silk-screeners,
who had primarily used the technique to produce commercial art.
Velonis consulted with the owner of the Weyhe Gallery, Carl
Zigrosser, about this problem. Then he went down to the NY Public Library
and spent days researching and thinking. In the end, he sat on the front
steps of the library with his journal and wrote down: "Serigraphy",
from the Latin "Seri" (silk) and the Greek "graphein"
(to write or draw). His effort to differentiate "creative art"
in silk-screen from "commercial application" would benefit such
artists as Elizabeth Olds, Ruth Chaney and Harry Gottleib, who were working
for the FPA at the time. Eventually artists like Warhol, Albers, Motherwell,
Stella, and Rauschenberg would embrace and benefit from the new term.
Silk-screen itself, by the way, is said to go back 2000 years.
Although it was first patented in the UK (1907) and then the US (1908).
The company that first used the process in the US was the San Francisco
Flag Company, who used silk-screen to make advertising posters.
The silk-screen process, simply described, involves forcing
ink through a stencil that is embedded in a silk or polyester mesh "screen".
The screen is a wooden or metal frame over which the mesh (which today is
sometimes metal) is stretched drum-tight. When I spoke with Mr. Velonis,
he asked me what materials I used in my serigraphy. I described to him the
photographic emulsion that I used to make stencils directly on the polyester
mesh (400 strands per inch) and the fine arts inks that I use or mix myself.
I asked what those pioneers in silk-screen used and he shocked me with his
answer. They used fabric remnants for mesh - "anything we could get
our hands on" was the way he put it. And "paint from the hardware
store" was used in lieu of today's fine art inks. I can't imagine how
frustrating that must have been - today's materials give me an amazing amount
of control over every facet of serigraphy. I have a brand new fascination
and appreciation of those early WPA posters.
If you would like more information on the history of Serigraphy,
please contact me.
To see examples of my serigraphy please go to "Serigraphs"
