Thursday 25 November 2010

Nick Veasey Limited Edition Prints

Provocative and captivating screenprints are now being produced here at Radar Studio. An intriguing yet disturbing X-ray study of an M4 assault rifle - the standard issue battle weapon of the US Army is available as a limited edition silkscreen print

The piece, entitled "The Beauty of Death' is embellished with blood effect paint and the silkscreening process entails that each print in the edition of 25 is unique. The silkscreen is hand printed with metallic silver inks at Nick Veasey’s studio onto Fabriano paper at size 70 x 100cm (27.5 x 39.4”).

The M4 is carried by the US Army in combat zones such as Iraq and Afghanistan and its immediately recognisable design has become an icon of military might mirroring foreign policy. The Marine Corps motto is  "Every Marine is a rifleman." and the M4 is their trusted comrade. In the field, you had better not be caught without your rifle!

Despite being designed to kill and maim the X-ray elicits the elegant and functional mechanisms of the gun: a magazine full of surprisingly small bullets; a long hollow barrell protected by a sculpted, heat-proof foregrip; the intricate lenses and optics of the gunsight. The viewer can appreciate the rifle as a purely functional, precision-machined object yet the stark symbolism and menace the image conveys is potent. The expressionistic sprays of crimson ink accentuate this menace and are a chaotic counterpoint to the regular linear steel forms of the gun.

Priced at GBP £350 / USD $500 / EURO €400 each print is signed and numbered in pencil, and comes with a certificate of authenticity and artist label.

We will be releasing more screen prints and other hand made art works in the future.