A breakdown of the process behind our latest collaboration with Idris Khan, ‘The Four Seasons’ screenprint series.

It’s been a busy summer at the studio. One project we’ve been very excited about is Idris Khan’s ‘The Four Seasons’ series for Cristea Roberts Gallery.

It’s our second time working with Khan, but ‘The Four Seasons’ series of prints are the first screenprints we’ve made together, and the project has proved to be the perfect opportunity to work and experiment together in the studio. Every artist approaches printmaking with a unique lens, and Khan, of course, is no exception. To celebrate the success of the series, our pre-press and printing teams put their heads together to reflect on the highlights of the collaborative process.

To achieve a richness and depth in the prints akin to Khan’s oil on gesso works, we developed a precise, high-build layering technique that emulated the rhythmic stamping and repetition his window series is acclaimed for.

When working with a series of artworks, we always begin testing on a single artwork to establish a workflow before testing the method against the rest of the series to ensure it can be repeated to yield consistent results through editioning. During the proofing stage, we worked closely with Khan and Cristea Roberts Gallery to bring the series to life.

Artworking & Pre-press

Each print in the series was created from a unique artwork which was manually separated into a myriad of tonal values by our pre-press manager, Evan Wong.  He then condensed these separations into carefully selected layers, which would be printed as film positives for making screens. Finally, the screen print was digitally simulated by assigning colours to each of the layers, creating a soft proof to present to Khan. 

Once the soft proof was approved, Khan provided us with painted swatches from his studio which we used as a reference to mix our printing inks. We decided to build the print using two contrasting ink systems - viny inks, which settle into paper, and catalysed inks, which sit atop it. Each ink used for the test was prepared in a few different formulations with varying quantities of extenders, hardeners, and other additives added to further push the range of results we could achieve.

Proofing

During proofing we printed one of the artworks onto eight very different paper stocks covering a wide spectrum of finishes, from radiant white to off-whites and hot press smooth to textured velvet. Carefully documenting each phase of our experiments, we tested each unique ink formulation and varied the printing order, pressure, and paper type to produce over a dozen samples.

We then worked with Khan to dissect the results. Together, we determined which variations encapsulated the subtle distinction between the light and mid tones and emphasised the rich, dark tones where the stamped ink had collected in Khan’s original artworks. Most importantly, we analysed the results to find the sample that felt most unified and textured, bearing the closest resemblance to Khan’s paintings.

One such decision was to use solid-coloured backgrounds instead of the hand-painted backgrounds used in earlier trials. By removing this background texture, the delicate tonal variation within the text and musical score could be better appreciated.

Khan also chose to isolate areas on each composition to be printed with a tinted gloss. This layer would further enhance the colours underneath and provide an extra element of interest allowing the inks to interact with light, producing textural interest without cluttering the composition with another solid colour.

“The dense repetitive layering fuse together to create each of the single images offering the viewer a series of colourful abstractions … It is the first time that the artist has used this print process in which he attempts to push the limits and boundaries of the screen layering technique.”

Cristea Roberts Gallery

Printing the series

The printing method established in our first proof was replicated across the eleven other compositions. After proofing, our printers, Enzo Medeiros and Gabrielle Tam, worked diligently to edition the full series, which Cristea Roberts then presented in a beautiful portfolio box.

‘The Four Seasons’ series of twelve original screenprints debuted at Cristea Roberts Gallery’s booth at The Armory Show 2024 in New York alongside our other recent project, Ian Davenport’s ‘Pathway’ group of prints.

For more information about ‘The Four Seasons’, 2024, visit cristearoberts.com

Idris Khan; The Four Seasons, 2024 artwork and print detail photography courtesy artist and Cristea Roberts Gallery, London © Idris Khan. Photography by Sam Roberts. || Idris Khan; The Four Seasons, 2024 in production at Atelier JI, London, 2024. Courtesy artist and Cristea Roberts Gallery, London © Idris Khan. Photo: Darrell Tuffs. || Cristea Roberts Gallery at The Armory Show 2024, Booth 315. Photo by Mikhail Mishin.