Paper Garden the new Catalogue and Exhibition by Joshua Marsh
October 18, 2017
Artist Joshua Marsh’s latest exhibition, Paper Garden, is now on view at Jeff Bailey Gallery in Hudson, NY. In conjunction with the exhibition, Brilliant digitally printed an intimate catalogue featuring Marsh’s smokey, graphite drawings. These works were inspired by and created last fall during a residency in the historic Japanese city, Nikko. Marsh joined us on press to guide our team, and answered a few questions about Paper Garden and his art practice.
- 7.25″ x 8.5″ finished size.
- Saddle stitched.
- Digitally printed 1/1 on Brilliant’s HP Indigo 7900.
- 100# Environment Smooth Cover in Desert Storm.
- 100# White Cougar Super Smooth Text.
Brilliant: Your residency in Nikko sounds fascinating. Can you tell us a bit about your experience making work there, and how it influenced your practice? Nikko have a unique history, what was it like to experience this place? Do any of these feelings or ideas appear in this work?
Joshua Marsh (JM): Chie Fueki and I were each making our own work at the residency, responding to the place in our particular ways. Some of the Shinto shrines in Nikko date to around 766 A.D., and have specific relationships with the mountain wilderness there. The large Toshogu Shrine in Nikko was established in the early 1600s, at the start of the Edo Period. Aspects of a moss garden at the residency share in that history, and my drawings took on the garden as subject. Hiking the mountains and visiting the many shrines of Nikko informed the drawings as much as the garden they revolved around describing.
Brilliant: Although the works are based on both observation and invented forms, did memory play a role in the way the finished pieces took shape as you continued to work on them in the months following? Was there a shift as you returned home?
JM: I studied the garden repeatedly while there, imprinting it to memory though drawing, but this memory was affected by the larger experience of Nikko. The notion of garden path became affected by mountain trails, the pond by lakes, the small stream in the garden by mountain rivers and brooks, the rock walls by the walls of shrines. After returning home, the act of drawing into these little worlds on paper became metaphorical. To get into process of drawing was to enter a garden both smaller and larger than the place the works originated from.
Brilliant: You’ve been showing with Jeff Bailey Gallery for some time, how did you develop your relationship with Jeff and the Gallery?
JM: Yes, I have been exhibiting with Jeff Bailey for close to ten years. I’ve learned so much from him – from the work of other artists he exhibits, from his insight into my own work, and from the kind respect with which he treats everyone. He’s been a big part of my development as an artist, as well providing a forum to share work with others. The relationship began organically, through other friends. Jeff first included some paintings of mine in a three-person show, then offered my first solo exhibit in 2010 at his space in New York City. Paper Garden will be my fourth solo show with Jeff Bailey, his gallery now in Hudson, NY.
Brilliant: Why did you decide to produce a catalogue for this exhibition, and why did you choose to work with Brilliant?
JM: Jeff Bailey first saw the Nikko drawings when they were near completion in the studio, and raised the idea of the catalogue then. In 2010, we had printed a small catalogue with Brilliant for a show titled “Ten Things”, and had an excellent experience. Those paintings hinged on specific color relationships that were very difficult to reproduce, but Brilliant was able to match those works in a way that exceeded our hopes.
In the case of this exhibit, “Paper Garden”, the catalog keeps the drawings together as a single place. The title of the exhibit underlines the metaphor that each drawing is a garden of its own, and that the totality of drawings together function as a garden as well. In thinking of all aspects of the catalogue, we wanted it to be both a documentation of the work and its own independent experience – the catalog itself as “Paper Garden”.
“I studied the garden repeatedly while there, imprinting it to memory though drawing, but this memory was affected by the larger experience of Nikko. The notion of garden path became affected by mountain trails, the pond by lakes, the small stream in the garden by mountain rivers and brooks, the rock walls by the walls of shrines. ”
-Joshua Marsh
Brilliant: What were your goals for the presentation of the pieces in the catalogue—how did you approach the translation of these drawings to print with us?
JM: We wanted to reproduce the intricacy and specific tonal structure of the drawings as accurately as possible, which guided the decision of printing process. Brilliant offered multiple possible methods, discussing the benefits of each when meeting to look at the drawings together in person. In the end, we decided to go with digital printing. This offered the ability to proof and adjust the tonality of the images exactly as printed on the actual paper stock, and captured the minutia of the drawings. The resulting impression resembles the drawings very closely, while also being reasonable in cost. This was in large part thanks to the accurate imaging that Brilliant offered. On the first proofs Brilliant gave to us, the tones of the drawings had been matched so accurately that only one out of fifteen images needed any adjustment. This was a pleasant surprise, as we were determined to be as accurate as possible. Thank you, Brilliant!
“On the first proofs Brilliant gave to us, the tones of the drawings had been matched so accurately that only one out of fifteen images needed any adjustment. This was a pleasant surprise, as we were determined to be as accurate as possible. Thank you, Brilliant!”
– Joshua Marsh