Whether he is wearing a printer’s hat working for patrons who come with their own ideas, or a publisher’s hat when he himself is behind projects, such as producing images and artists’ books to be sold, Michael Woolworth is a reference in both France and Europe.
It has been over 35 years since Michael Woolworth, an American-born printer and publisher, moved to Paris. Soon after he began to specialise in stone lithography techniques, with printing exclusively on manual presses, and he also produced woodcuts, monotypes, linocuts and etchings. Based in his studio on rue de la Roquette (Paris, 11th arrondissement), he is now the only one working exclusively by hand, without resorting to photogravure*. A unique system that makes his studio a reference in both France and Europe. Michael Woolworth works in two ways. “There is short money and long money,” he says with a smile. “The short money, that’s the publications of artists I choose. Before that, there is a meeting between an artist and his work.” Some artists are introduced to him, others he discovers in the press or at an exhibition, people to whom critics, gallery owners or curators he knows draw his attention.
“And the long money, that’s the commissions that I get. They come from galleries, museums, companies, but also artists who self-publish,” he explains. “Business is roughly split between these two areas. We could not exist without one or the other, which reinforce each other. The artists with whom we work enable us to be regularly contacted for commissions involving them.”
In his choices, Michael Woolworth, who calls himself “very publisher-focused”, is guided by his personal tastes which tend to be eclectic, rather than defending an artistic line or fashion. “I consider that I can have very different tastes, like I have with music,” he observes. “I like to listen to different music depending on the time of day or my frame of mind. The same is true of the works that I publish. In my choices, I am also very attentive to the next generation, to these young artists without whom this art might disappear.”
Collaborative art
In a well-lit studio, with his two permanent collaborators, the work is organised over the long term. This is purely manual work, both for the artist who will come to work on the plate itself, and for the engraver who will use the press. The reflection process takes several weeks. When the time comes, the artist arrives at the studio with an idea, but no model. “Sometimes a sketch, but it’s actually quite rare,” says Michael Woolworth. “It is the inspiration of the moment and the power of the hand which guide the work; it is first and foremost the expression of a form on a sheet. And the public sees that too.” The publisher defines his work as an “art of collaboration”. To have an image that satisfies both the artist and the printer, it takes a day or two of tweaking and testing, at best, he says. “But, more often than not, this working process can take a week, sometimes longer. There are lots of factors involved. It depends on the artist’s idea of their work, the comparison of the colours hoped-for with those in the print run, and the technique used,” says Michael Woolworth. “Often it doesn’t work. We are in a process of trying to find a specific effect.”
He often compares this work to the work that was done in the past, before digital technology, in recording studios. Then you had the artist, the producer, the sound engineer, the musicians, all contributing to the same quest and each adding their own touch to the project. “We’re continually looking for that impossible dream, and I sense that the public is aware of that,” he says.
Like a way of life
Large print runs are complex to produce. “You have to make sure that the plate holds up,” explains the printer. “There is more risk and sometimes, if it doesn’t work, we have to start again from scratch. All that time is not counted. Only the result counts. If we evaluate it incorrectly, the operation is no longer profitable.” For Jean-Michel Othoniel, he received a commission for several large-format images, using lithographic printing on canvas covered with white gold leaf. A unique, extravagant work. “It’s more than a whim; producing plates in oversized formats has become a way of life for me; a need in fact,” he said to himself at the time. “It took nearly two years of reflection and five to six weeks to achieve the desired result,” he recalls. For Korean artist Lee Ufan, he produced an exceptional work. A long roll 5 metres long and 40 centimetres wide, which is then stored in a sort of ‘champagne box’. “That also took us a year of work, between the design and production of engravings, for which we had to invent the right press.”
Exhibitions
Michael Woolworth likes to exhibit artists from the younger generation in his studio on rue de la Roquette, like Maude Maris, who recently initiated her first collaboration with the publisher, or Mélanie Delattre-Vogt. There are also artists that he has followed for several years such as Carole Benzaken or Mirka Lugosi. “But I also like to present the work of Anne and Patrick Poirier, who are over 80 years old now, and whose large formats I still like,” adds Michael Woolworth. Another discovery has been the work of Claire Chesnier, created from scratch for the Les fleurs de mai exhibition, and the most recent to be organised by the studio. “It involved incredible research on colour that I had never seen before. It took us 11 to 12 weeks of work to produce 20 pieces.” Here too, the studio had to invent a special technique to achieve the desired effects. A continual search for that impossible dream.
*Printing by photographic and chemical processes
