Flatbed File No. 7 "Confrontation II" by Spencer Fidler

“Confrontation II” by Spencer Fidler is our featured Flatbed File of the week.

Spencer Fidler (born 1944, American) is a master printer and teacher, whose career has focused specifically on the media of printmaking and drawing. Often challenging the traditional technical and aesthetic boundaries of printmaking, Fidler creates vibrant monumental works that range from classical imagery and texts to figurative work exploring human relationships. His work has been exhibited around the world and across the United States. Fidler first collaborated with Flatbed in the summer of 1993, working with Flatbed’s Katherine Brimberry, Fidler’s former student and protégé, to create “Confrontation II”.

“Confrontation II” is a large 38 x 50 in. multicolor intaglio print. It depicts three figures set against a crimson and ivory background, these two colors splitting the print down the middle into two separate planes. The left half of the print shows two figures: one entirely shrouded in black and the other of a woman, whose body remains partially visible. The dark figure is pulling the struggling woman, whose hand is also grasping the outstretched arm of the third figure in the image. Contrasted against the light ivory background is the third figure enveloped in crimson, which on close examination also reveals faint skeletal details. The weight of the black and crimson ink on the left side of the print conveys a heaviness that pulls the woman towards it, contrasted against the airy quality of the opposite side of the print. This engagement between the figures combined with the print’s striking size and colors produces a deeply moving image that often provokes unique emotional responses from viewers. For the artist himself, this was an expression of the long struggle against death brought on by losing his wife to cancer.

Spencer Fidler
“Confrontation II”
1993
Soft-ground and line etching and aquatint
Image Size: 36 x 48 in
Sheet Size: 38 x 50 in