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Michael Loderstedt

(Plainfield, New Jersey, 1958 - )

Craig Lucas

(Cleveland, Ohio, 1941 - 2011, Kent, Ohio)

F from Bestiary

From the series "Bestiary"

1999 - 2000

Screenprint and relief on paper

20 x 26 in. (50.8 x 66.0 cm)

Collection of the Akron Art Museum

Gift of Artists Image Resource

2013.5

© Michael Loderstedt

More Information

Frequent collaborators Michael Loderstedt and Craig Lucas set out to create a portfolio of prints based on the letters of the alphabet, each represented by animals beginning with that letter. A bestiary is an illustrated encyclopedia of animals—in medieval Europe, bestiaries were closely associated with Christianity, which attached religious symbolism to animals to teach moral values. For the letters in their Bestiary, Loderstedt and Lucas chose fonts (including a medieval woodcut typeface) that “emphasize the ‘animalistic’ nature of mankind” and carry symbolic weight. The alphabet, itself a series of symbols, provides the basis for the works’ display. In vertical groups, the prints spell out a typing exercise with no discernible meaning: “the quick brown fox jumps over a lazy dog.”

Keywords
Letters
Silkscreen
Fish