The
passing of Karl Koenig this January left a huge gap in the world of
photography. He wrote the definite book on gumoil photography and was primarily
known for his work in this medium although he practiced a variety of
photographic and printmaking techniques. However, it was his imagery that he
was most well known for: Striking shots of concentration camps, majestic trees,
lonely grain elevators, remote places in New Mexico, and haunting French
cemeteries.
Karl's
wife, Frances Koenig chose the images for this show that gave an overview of the gumoil process and a variety of images.
Each gumoil image is hand-crafted after coating a sheet of 100% rag
paper with sensitized liquid gum arabic and contact-exposing it to a
transparent or translucent positive under intense ultraviolet radiation.
The coated sheet is then developed in water, thoroughly dried, and
later rubbed with a dark pigment such as lamp black oil paint.
Excess pigment is wiped off and the paper is briefly dipped in a
bleach bath to oxidize away (etch) some of the light-hardened residual
gum arabic. This leaves the next tonal region of the picture open to a
second pigment application.
The sequence is repeated until the print is finished over the course
of several days or weeks. It is the successive etchings and applications
of oil colors which lead to the richness and dimensionality of the
finished print. (From Karl Koenig's website www.http://www.gumoil.com/gumoil-process/)
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| Tanya, Gallery Assistant and former member, Deb Weaver |
