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Richard Tuttle

(Rahway, New Jersey, 1941 - )

Press Type ’84, #8

1984

Pencil and press type on paper

6 3/4 x 9 1/2 in. (17.3 x 24.1 cm)

Collection of the Akron Art Museum

Gift of The Dorothy and Herbert Vogel Collection: Fifty Works for Fifty States, a joint initiative of the Trustees of the Dorothy and Herbert Vogel Collection and the National Gallery of Art, with generous support of the National Endowment for the Arts an

2009.30.47

More Information

The Vogels were first introduced to Tuttle’s work in 1968, and they have maintained a close friendship and intense artistic dialogue with the artist ever since. Tuttle’s work is included in Vogel gifts to all 50 states. In this series of eight images, the artist uses delicate markings to create a group of related shapes that together form a visual poem. For Tuttle, the most subtle details can hold the key to an entire work. Here, the artist cites the small break in the otherwise continuously drawn peanut-like shape in Press Type ’84 #1 as “an opening that allows for the other shapes to come in.” Press type is a manual transfer technique that was primarily used by graphic designers for setting type before the process became digitized. According to Tuttle, his art is strongly associated with writing.

Keywords
Minimalism
Paper
Drawings