Celebrating printed graphics: Edition VFO (association for original prints) has been promoting graphic works for 75 years. Time for an anniversary stamp about a form of expression that has shaped part of Swiss art and cultural history.
Since 1948, this non-profit art association and publisher of prints, now Switzerland’s largest edition publisher, has been com- mitted to the diffusion of contemporary art at affordable prices. The goal is to promote traditional and modern printing techniques and studios. In addition to the exchange of ideas, the association offers artists from all over Switzerland ideas for an innovative and playful ap- proach to usually complex printing pro- cesses. But the aim is not only to cultivate the art form, but also to convey it. Thanks to their affordable prices, the works are therefore accessible to a broad public. In the current anniversary year, the associ- ation is looking to show that printing is not a reproduction, but a form of expres- sion in its own right, in the same way as painting or photography. The launch of the commemorative stamp is intended to highlight this issue.
The miniature sheet is the work of Rebekka Steiger. The 30-year-old chose a familiar subject: “Riders have been with me since I started working as an artist. They were one of the hallmarks of the first edition I developed in collabo- ration with the association. So it seemed fitting to me.” In an effort to highlight the subject of print as an art form, it was important to her for the unmistakable traces of the printing process to be visible. She also left some of the printed paper in place around it, explaining: “For me, the irregular edges are part of it, because they give the images the playfulness and dynamism that are inherent in this printing technique (lithography).”
