Ann Hamilton - american singers

Suite of five smoked inkjet monoprints on Enhanced Matte Paper
52.25 x 20 inches each (133 x 51 cm each)

The suite of five smoked inkjet monoprints, american singers (e, g, b, d, f) (chorus), from 2009, references a process Hamilton employed in several installations, including parallel lines at the Sao Paulo Bienal, 1991, accountings, 1992 at the Henry Art Gallery in Seattle and more recently, accountings, 2009, at Carl Solway Gallery in Cincinnati. In this process, she used the crossed tips of two lit candles to “lick” paper surface with soot. A protective coating of Delacroix Fixatif was sprayed on each print.

The letters in the title—e, g, b, d, and f—refer to the notes on a musical staff. The images of American Singers, a breed of canary, are stills selected from video which in turn captures in time the bird’s fleeting movement. It also refers to Hamilton’s inclusion of free flying canaries in past exhibitions.