Alcheringa 1 (fire)

Joe Tilson RA (b1928)

Screenprint with mixed media (collage) on Japanese paper from 1971 from a small series of works called ‘the Alchera Cycle’.

Signed and dated 71 in pencil, numbered 57 from the edition of 70.

Collections: Tate, British Council, Government Art Collection, National Gallery of Australia

Provenance: Originally in the collection of SJBerwin (solicitors) as per labels on the back of the frame.

These works were significant in Tilson’s career as they marked a turning point in his style.  Tilson had become increasingly disillusioned with consumerism and from this point he began to use a wider variety of materials, including stone, straw and rope in an effort to transcend time and culture by drawing on the motifs of pre-Classical mythology. This body of work was called Alchera.  “Alchera” means “Dreamtime in Australian Aboriginal Magic”. The artist’s interest in naturalism is evident in these prints, but threads of alchemical or esoteric knowledge weave through his treatments and choices of nature and diverse cultures.

Tilson sought in Alchera to reconcile his research on Shamanism, Buddhism and primitive mythology with Western philosophies. (source: Wikipedia and Marlborough London)

Measurements: 98 x 68 cm sheet size

Condition: Photographed float mounted in frame, the print appears in super condition.

This work has now been sold