To co-inside with his up-coming exhibition, Gow Langsford Gallery is pleased to announce the release of four limited edition screen prints by Karl Maughan. Published under the direction and expertise of Don Tee at Art Rite, this suite of prints represents Maughan’s first venture into the medium of screen-printing.

For this series, Maughan has produced four distinct colour combinations of a single composition. Printed on archival quality Fabriano paper, the large scale of the print, measuring 1100 x 1250mm, effectively captures the painterly hyper-real gardens that have become Maughan’s signature. Each of the four colour combination prints is limited to an edition of 25 including 5 artists’ proofs within each series.

Technically these prints are among the most complex ever produced in New Zealand requiring 37 separate ink colours to achieve the considerable variety of tones. Tee explains that the printing process inevitably replicated Maughan’s painting practice, whereby the artist begins with a base of black and dark tones and builds up to lighter hues. Consequently, unlike the majority of screen prints which are rationalised in progression from light to dark tones, Maughan’s prints are unique in that the order of colours applied progresses from dark to light.

Produced over a labour intensive two weeks, Maughan and Tee worked in symbiosis, with Maughan dedicated to learning the technical aspects of screen printing and active in supervising the development and progression of the prints at every stage. With over 50 years experience in the commercial printing industry and over 20 years experience in specialised fine art printing, former Elam student Don Tee and his company Art Rite are leading experts and innovators in their field. Tee has produced prints for a variety of renowned New Zealand artists over the years including Gordon Walters, Dick Frizzell, Don Binney, Sara Hughes and John Pule.

Maughan’s work is held in public and private collections throughout New Zealand, Australia, Asia and the UK, including the esteemed Charles Saatchi Collection (UK). Maughan’s prints will be available to view alongside new paintings at Gow Langsford Gallery, 20^th December 2006 – 3^rd February 2007.