CLUB HARLEM - CLOSED IN ATLANTIC CITY - Limited Edition of 5 Print

This SECOND Edition, double zinc plate etching (of FOUR EDITIONS) is executed French, oil-based colored inks (Charbonnel brand; Color - intense black) and is printed on RivesBFK white paper (also manufactured in France). All editions are limited to only five etchings per edition. This is print number 1 of 5. I used a Charles Brand industrial floor press that was manufactured in New York City. The image size is 6 ½” wide by 8 ½” high (16.51cm x 21.59cm) and was produced by placing two individual etching plates (each measured 4” high by 6” high or 10.16cm x 25.40cm) on the press bed to create one image. The plates required five individual etching baths in Nitric acid. All etchings were hand printed by the artist at The Center for Works on Paper in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US. Using methylcellulose-treated mulberry bark paper directly onto the inked and wiped plate before running it through the press created the red and yellow areas. This paper is from Thailand and was infused with Japanese kozo threads. An explanation of this process follows. I employed the studio etching techniques of intaglio, aquatint, Chine collè (Chinese pasting), and drypoint. The original print ships to the collector in a frame with both an archival mat and craft paper backing glued in place. The frame measures between 11 to 12 inches wide by 14 to 15 inches high (27.94/30.48cm x 35.56/38.10cm). This work was hand-printed at The Center for Works on Paper at 705 Christian Street within the Open Studio for Printmaking, which is connected to the Fleisher Art Memorial and the Philadelphia Museum of Art (Pennsylvania, US). This etching is from Di Falco’s new series entitled, “Slot Machine Gun Assassination”, which focuses upon the death of art in Atlantic City, New Jersey, an east-coast seaside resort. As a child of eight, the artist and his mother traveled to Atlantic City to hear his jazz-musician father, Happy Di Falco, play at the Club Harlem, frequently with, “The Ink Spots”. The artist shot the photo—on which this etching is based—in1981, about twenty years after visiting the vibrant Club Harlem. It shows a very different “Atlantic City”, which is devoid of businesses and clubs since 1978—the year when casino gambling became legal there. Between the years of 1945 and 1979, Atlantic City began to attract many artists from New York City, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington DC as year round residents. The worlds of Jazz, Dance, and Nightclubs had already established solid roots here, with establishments like the elegant Club Harlem—whose stars included such luminaries as Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, and Red Foxx. Moreover, a growing art scene was quickly taking root after 1960 with the opening of art galleries, studios, and experimental theaters. In addition, a vibrant trans, gay and lesbian presence exploded around this time; and, Atlantic City soon gained a reputation as New Jersey’s Greenwich Village. Sadly, this changed after Casino Gambling arrived, and mob-connected corporations purchased blocks of prime oceanfront property on the famous boardwalk. These buildings were demolished and transformed into a cheesy stretch of smoke filled arenas . . . minus the Americana “kitch” architecture or allure of Las Vegas. The three to five blocks behind these newly constructed casinos—the same area where dozens of gay bars, jazz clubs, cinemas, theaters, and restaurants flourished—were razed to make space for “parking lots” . . . parking lots that never materialized. At present, the casinos provide parking for thousands of employees outside of the city limits and transport them to work on shuttle buses. “Atlantic City”, the artist explains, “now reminds me of a twilight zone of bulldozed nothingness. Moreover, those vacant acres that separate the wealthy casino-strip from one of New Jersey’s poorest ghettos . . . reminds me of downtown Beirut in 1980 . . . or the heavily guarded borders between Palestine and Israel. The Atlantic City Boardwalk of live entertainment, ballroom dancing, cultural and ethnic festivals, art fairs, and amusement piers was transformed into a comatose, crime-infested causeway of wooden planks. Gone from the boardwalk are the aromas of roasted peanuts . . . Gone is the performance art pier with Zambora the Ape Woman . . . Gone is the Million Dollar’s Pier’s Italian American museum . . . Gone is the Steele Pier with its cinemas, concerts, ballroom, and Diving Bell. Gone and replaced with: Overpriced buffets; fur saloons: and art galleries that carry acceptable art! “Abbra Cadabra and . . . gone is the fun . . . while stockholders monitor all activity with hidden guns! It ain’t Monaco, Honey.” Chine Collé, which translates from French as Chinese pasting, is a manual process that adds color to an etching. Methylcellulose powder is re-constituted by mixing it with spring water and then applying the clear viscous substance to hand-dyed mulberry-bark paper from Thailand (Brand Unryu); In Japan, Unryu translates as CLOUD DRAGON paper because it has long swirling threads of kozo fibers integrated in it, thereby giving the texture and visual effect of clouds. (NOTE: Kozo fibers come the branches of the kozo [paper mulberry] bush, specifically the innermost of three layers of bark, which are removed, cooked, and beaten before the sheets are formed. Kozo is harvested annually.) The treated Thai paper is then allowed to dry overnight and I cut it to fit the plate areas where I want color to exist in the print. These stenciled mulberry-bark papers are first dampened/misted with water and placed upon the already inked and wiped etching plate. The printing process continues and results in a multi-colored etching.

Printmaking:Etching on Paper

Artist Produced Limited Edition of:5

Size:12 W x 16 H x 1 D in

Delivery Time:Typically 5-7 business days for domestic shipments, 10-14 business days for international shipments.