Events

Dutch Design Daily

1 / 14

By

By

By

By

By

By

By

By

By

By

By

By

By

By
Graphic Matters www.graphicmatters.nl

Copper Monday 2023

By 25-01-2023

Graphic Matters, together with NPN Printers, [Z]OO productions and Whynotcooperation, is reviving an age-old tradition! They published a Copper Monday print on 9 January.

Copper Monday had been a holiday for printers since the 15th century. On the first Monday after Epiphany, apprentice printers handed a special print to master printers as a test of skill. In the 19th century, Copper Monday prints were sent as gifts to business associates. With the sending of Christmas and New Year cards, the ritual was lost during the 20th century.

We start 2023 with inspiration from an old master. The Copper Monday print is based on the handmade autonomous work of the now 82-year-old designer Henk Cornelissen. He worked in the 1960s for major design studios in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco, such as Unimark International and Saul Bass. Besides his work as a designer, he taught at Kunstacademie St. Joost in Breda for over 30 years. After designing the first Christmas stamp for the PTT in 1987, Henk decided to make only free work. In this free work, he designs patterns and structures. Recently, [Z]OO productions published a Roots cahier about Henk’s career.

Since 2019, the Whynotcooperation has been working on digitising his autonomous oeuvre. A website shows a selection of work in detail. The website’s high-quality photography also made it possible to reproduce the handmade work in editions.

The Copper Monday print is a set of three folded reproductions with compositions with other work by Henk on the back sides, collected in a folder with more information about the project. Here, in-house printer NPN Drukkers from Breda played an important role. Thanks to careful lithography and special applications during the printing process, three of Henk’s works were reproduced. For example, fluorescent ink was used to approximate the yellow gouache and an extra printing pass ‘skeleton black’ for the pencil lines.

Luxury edition
Besides the 1,500 copies shipped, there are also 3x 100 deluxe editions. These are printed on 300grs paper and are numbered and signed by Henk. On 26 January, the deluxe version will be presented in Breda’s Grote Kerk. This moment also marks the start of the exhibition of over 50 of Henk’s works in Graphic Matters’ 3sec.gallery in the Chassé Parking driveway.

Want to get your hands on a deluxe copy (and the Roots publication)?
Then sign up for the event.

www.whynotcoop.org
www.zooproducties.nl
www.npndrukkers.nl