Beth Ganz

'Mount Haru, Japan' — from the series 'Axis Mundi', Contemporary

2019

Beth Ganz, 'Cerro Paine Grande, Chilean Patagonia', copperplate photogravure etching, edition 10, 2021. Signed, titled, and numbered 6/10 in pencil. A superb, richly-inked impression in warm black ink, on cream, wove, cotton rag paper; the full sheet in excellent condition. Archivally sleeved, unmatted. Image size 10 1/2 x 10 1/2 inches; sheet size 16 x 15 1/2 inches. From the artist's series of 64 photogravure etchings, 'Axis Mundi'. Additional works from the series are available; please inquire. Exhibited: 'Photography in Ink, A Look at Contemporary Copper-Plate Photogravure,' Curated by Leandro Villaro, Penumbra Exhibition Space Gallery, Nov 30, 2022 - March 15, 2023. ABOUT THE IMAGE Cerro Paine Grande is the highest summit of the Cordillera Paine Mountain Range located within Chile's Torres del Paine National Park, one of the most breathtaking national parks in the world and a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve since 1978. The Torres del Paine or Towers of Paine are three massive granite pillars...

Beth Ganz, 'Mount Vesuvius, Italy', copperplate photogravure etching, edition 10, 2020. Signed, titled, and numbered 6/10 in pencil. A superb, richly-inked impression in warm black ink, on cream, wove, cotton rag paper; the full sheet in excellent condition. Archivally sleeved, unmatted. Image size 10 1/2 x 10 1/2 inches; sheet size 16 x 15 1/2 inches. From the artist's series of 64 photogravure etchings 'Axis Mundi'. Additional works from the series are available; please inquire. Exhibited: 'Photography in Ink, A Look at Contemporary Copper-Plate Photogravure,' Curated by Leandro Villaro, Penumbra Exhibition Space Gallery, Nov 30, 2022 - March 15, 2023. ABOUT THE IMAGE Mount Vesuvius (Italian: Vesuvio) is a somma-stratovolcano located on the Gulf of Naples in Campania, Italy, about 9 km (5.6 mi) east of Naples and a short distance from the shore. It is one of several volcanoes forming the Campanian volcanic arc. Vesuvius consists of a large cone partially encircled by the steep rim of a summit caldera, resulting from the collapse of an earlier, much higher structure. The eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79, one of the most catastrophic eruptions of all time, destroyed the Roman cities of Pompeii, Herculaneum, Oplontis, Stabiae, and several other settlements. The eruption ejected a cloud of stones, ashes and volcanic gases to a height of 33 km (21 mi). More than 1,000 people are thought to have died in the eruption. Vesuvius has erupted about three dozen times since. It is the only volcano on Europe's mainland to have erupted in the last hundred years (1929 and 1944). It is regarded as one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world—3,000,000 people live near enough to be affected by an eruption, with at least 600,000 in the danger zone, the most densely populated volcanic region in the world. Eruptions tend to be violent and explosive; these are known as Plinian eruptions. Vesuvius has a long historical and literary tradition. It was considered a divinity of the Genius type (a divine nature much like a guardian angel) at the time of the eruption of AD 79: it appears under the inscribed name Vesuvius as a serpent in the decorative frescos of many household shrines, surviving from Pompeii. The Romans regarded Mount Vesuvius as being devoted to Hercules. The historian Diodorus Siculus relates a tradition that Hercules, in the performance of his labors, passed through the country of nearby Cumae on his way to Sicily and found there a place called 'the Phlegraean Plain' ('plain of fire') 'from a hill which anciently vomited out fire ... now called Vesuvius.' It was inhabited by giant bandits, 'the sons of the Earth'. With the gods' assistance, he pacified the region and continued his journey. The area around Vesuvius was officially declared a national park on June 5, 1995. The summit of Vesuvius is open to visitors, and the park authorities maintain a small network of paths around the volcano. There is access by road to within 200 meters (660 ft) of the summit and a spiral walkway around the volcano from the road to the crater. ABOUT THE SERIES 'AXIS MUNDI' "This body of work focuses on satellite images of sacred mountains around the world—places where heaven and earth are thought to meet. The phenomenon of revering mountains as holy sites is an archetype found in many cultures. "This shared experience finds a visual echo in the ubiquity of images of the earth that are now available to any person with a computer and an Internet connection. What does the specificity of place mean when we can move across the surface of the earth in seconds and reduce everything to a series of pixels? To me, this process recalls abstract painting, which transforms the specific into gesture and form. Rather than treat digital technology as necessarily destructive to human meaning and experience, my work offers new ways of seeing that are reconcilable with the old. To this end, I combine 19th Century Photogravure technique with 21st Century surveillance captures. "Axis Mundi consists of 64 copperplate photogravures. The work is laid out in a grid, which is an arbitrary conversion of the visual world into a flat space that happens both on the picture plane and in the data processing. The title refers to the belief in a 'world center,' often conceived of as a mountain: a place where communication between higher and lower realms is possible. This project is a search for such a center in a world of decentralization and fragmentation." —Beth Ganz ABOUT THE ARTIST Beth Ganz is a contemporary American multidisciplinary visual artist, who lives and works in New York City. She graduated from Pratt Institute with a BFA (honors) in Painting, Sculpture, and Printmaking. The focus of her work is the intersection of landscape, digital technology, and abstraction. Ganz works in paint, brush, and ink drawing, both independently and alongside digital and analog printing techniques, including photogravure and intaglio printing. Ganz’s work has been the subject of many solo exhibitions, including 'Atlas Project' at Cynthia-Reeves Gallery, 'Up Close and Far Away, Grids and Toiles: Beth Ganz at Wave Hill House,' Wave Hill, and 'Geothermal Topographies' at Reeves Contemporary. She has been shown in numerous group exhibitions, and her work is represented in many public and private collections, including the 9-11 Memorial Museum, the Library of Congress, the New York Historical Society, and the New York Public Library Prints...

John Baldessari Rollercoaster 1989-90 Color aquatint and photogravure on Somerset paper 38 3/4 x 67 1/4 in. P.P. (Printer's Proof) Pencil signed and numbered

Andy Goldsworthy Presentation print for Royal Mail Christmas Stamp Series, 2003 Color photogravure on handmade rag paper with deckled edges 15 × 20 1/4 inches hand signed lower right...