EXQUISITE CORPSE

STEAMROLLER PRINTMAKING PROJECT

SAN DIEGO MESA COLLEGE

HOSTED BY CAMPANA STUDIOS

OPENING ART RECEPTION THIS SATURDAY

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 12, 4-7PM

In 2024 a group of 29 artists were selected by the Mesa College Art Gallery to contribute images for a series of collaborative prints. This selection of artist included current and former students, faculty, staff, and San Diego based artists who collaborated to create, print, and exhibit this series of large-scale prints. The project drew inspiration from the century-old Surrealist parlor game known as “Cadavre Exquis,” or “Exquisite Corpse” in English. An “Exquisite Corpse” is a collaborative drawing or writing game that originated in the early 20th century. The game invites participants to contribute in the creation of a collective piece of art or text without seeing what the others have created. The game has become a popular and creative way for people to produce unpredictable and imaginative works of art or literature.

Taking cues from iconic “Exquisite Corpse” artists like Marcel Duchamp, André Breton, Yves Tanguy, Frida Kahlo, and Henry Miller, this project also emphasized the use of a unique printmaking method: using a steamroller to transfer large images onto fabric sheets. Following the rules of the game, students designed sections of body parts above and below a waistline resulting in oddly disparate top and bottom half sections. These half sections were then interchanged and swapped with each other creating unique, playful, and unexpected whole-body pairings.

To create each printed image participants carved sheets of printmaking linoleum measuring 2 x 3 feet. After carving was completed, black ink was hand-rolled onto each block, allowing the designs to be transferred, much like a rubber stamp, onto long fabric panels. The large-scale print pairings, reaching over 72” in height, were printed using an industrial construction steamroller. Over six days, thirty-six blocks were successfully printed.