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Body and Soul

Print
1990 (printed), 1990 (published)
Artist/Maker
Hope (Sufferance) Press (printer)
Paragon Press (publisher)
Gormley, Antony Mark David (artist)
Place of origin
London (published)

As a sculptor, Gormley (born 1950) has as his starting-point the human body, usually his own. Many of his lead and concrete figures begin as casts of his own body. In 1990 he began working on a print project at the Hope Sufferance Studios, experimenting with different techniques. Noticing his thumbprints smudging the edges of some soft-ground etching plates, he was inspired to dispense with the etching needle and make marks on the plates using various parts of his own body. The result was a portfolio of nine prints entitled Body and Soul, which includes this image of the artist's splayed fingerprints in black on a white background.

Object details

Categories
Body Art
Prints
Object type
Print
TitleBody and Soul (series title)
Materials and techniques
Soft-ground etching on paper
Paper
Ink
Paper
Soft-Ground Etching
Soft Ground Etching
Brief description
Print by Antony Gormley, untitled plate from a portfolio of 9, entitled 'Body and Soul', soft ground etching, printed by Hope Sufferance Studio and published by the Paragon Press, Great Britain, 1990
Physical description
An etching showing the impressions made by the artist's fingerprints into the etching ground. The impressions appear as black marks on a white background.
Dimensions
  • Platemark height: 30cm
  • Platemark width: 40.5cm
  • Sheet height: 50cm
  • Sheet width: 58.2cm
Dimensions taken from Victoria and Albert Museum Department of Prints, Drawings and Paintings Accession Register for 1991
Production typeLimited edition
Copy number
30/30
Marks and inscriptions
  • 'Antony Gormley '90' (Signed and dated on the back in pencil)
  • '30/30' (Numbered)
Subjects depicted
Fingerprints
Gormley, Antony
Summary
As a sculptor, Gormley (born 1950) has as his starting-point the human body, usually his own. Many of his lead and concrete figures begin as casts of his own body. In 1990 he began working on a print project at the Hope Sufferance Studios, experimenting with different techniques. Noticing his thumbprints smudging the edges of some soft-ground etching plates, he was inspired to dispense with the etching needle and make marks on the plates using various parts of his own body. The result was a portfolio of nine prints entitled Body and Soul, which includes this image of the artist's splayed fingerprints in black on a white background.
Associated object
E.1590-1991 (Series)
Bibliographic references
  • Timmers, Margaret (ed.) Impressions of the 20th century : fine art prints from the V&A collection. London: V&A Publications, 2001. ISBN 185177350.
  • Victoria and Albert Museum Department of Prints, Drawings and Paintings Accession Register for 1991
Collection
Prints, Drawings & Paintings Collection
Accession number
E.1591-1991

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Record createdDecember 17, 2002
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O72133/body-and-soul-print-gormley-antony-mark/
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