"Ink and paper are my muses Using hand press printing and printers'
ink to create original prints has absorbed me for the last 47 years I
love the qualities of all papers, especially fine rag papers and washi
papers Their tactile and soft surfaces beg to receive ink and I am
always happy to oblige them "
-- George A Walker
George A Walker is one of Canada's foremost woodcut artists Over the
past 40 years Walker has created more than 1,000 wood engravings to
illustrate seven wordless books and countless prints covering subjects
ranging from literary works to half-remembered dreams, to historical
figures and events
Ink and Paper is a collection of the best of Walker's work from the
1970s to the present The book is a complete survey of his career, with
over 250 prints -- including many from his wordless novels about
important figures in Canadian art, politics and history -- as well as
photos of Walker's handmade limited edition books Each carefully
selected image, complete in itself, is paired on the facing page with a
complementary image that enhances the visual experience Ink and Paper
is capped with an afterword by Tom Smart, curator, essayist and director
of the Beaverbrook Art Gallery
Walker attributes his fascination with woodcuts and their use in
wordless novels to attending an exhibition featuring the work of Frans
Masereel, the first master of the wordless novel After the exhibition he
began an obsessive pursuit to find books illustrated with woodcuts, wood
engravings and linocuts, and to learn everything he could about fine art
printmaking and the art of wood engraving
The result of that obsession is a four-decade career and an astounding
body of work -- celebrated here for the first time in this gorgeous
retrospective
