The Karoo. An exhibition of artist proofs by Joshua Miles

THE KAROO An exhibition of artist proofs by Joshua Miles
By Angela Miles
www.princealbertgallery.co.za

Morning glow

In this exhibition titled ‘The Karoo’ Joshua Miles is releasing his collection of artists proofs to show the journeys he has taken through this magical part of South Africa. It is a special place which draws people from all over especially artists who find inspiration in the landscape. Joshua has criss-crossed this part of the country for many years travelling with his family, treating every dirt road as an adventure, going up and down mountain passes and following the escarpments to discover the beauty of the area. This exhibition tells the story of these road trips…

Throughout his career Joshua has been working full time as an artist and printmaker. His main focus is limited edition reduction block prints, at first in woodcut and more recently in linocuts. He produces limited editions of ten hand-made prints. Once the edition is sold out there can be no more prints – that is simply not possible with the reduction print technique.

He takes inspiration from this Japanese form of printmaking, and he is also conscious of the impressionist style of mark-making. Because of his passion for working in this technique he works prolifically, and has built up a large collection of his own artist proofs.

An artist proof is a print taken in the printmaking process where the artist can see the current state of the image being worked. Joshua makes his proofs in order to test the colour and the cut before continuing with each layer of his printed edition. The proofs are as identical to the edition as a hand-made print can be.

Artists proofs normally belong to the artist and by convention the artist is not supposed to sell these with the numbered edition. Art curators, collectors and historians view artists proofs as especially desirable because of their rarity and this value is often reflected in their price.

Now Joshua is releasing his collection of artist proofs which have never had a chance to be shown together before as a retrospective of his working career to date. All of the proofs being released provide a rare opportunity for collectors and buyers to purchase that ‘one that got away’.

So, if you remember that image of Joshua’s that you were too late to purchase from the limited edition, then here is one last chance…

Joshua is not the kind of artist who strives for a deep meaningful explanation behind his work, he prefers the work to speak for itself. He is a landscape artist who loves to track the way light moves over the landscape. What better landscape for capturing this but the vast Karoo.
The Prince Albert Gallery in the heart of the Karoo is the ideal showcase for this collection of work and is also the town where Joshua and his family currently live and call home.

Brandrivier hek

The exhibition will open on Saturday January 2 2021 at 6pm and run until Sunday 22 February.
Please contact Brent at princealbertgallery@gmail.com for the full catalog of works which will be released nearer to the opening.

Swartbergpas aloes

Gifberg

Swartbergpas ingang