A fine mesh fabric is stretched around a wooden or metal frame. The mesh is left open in the areas to be inked, and it’s covered or clogged in those which are to remain blank. The screen is set on the printing surface, ink is poured on to the screen and then pushed through the openings in the mesh using a rubber blade.

Etymologically, the name comes from the Latin word Sericum, which means silk, because the first screens were made using silk.

Stenciling is one of mankind’s oldest means of graphic expression. On the walls of caves painted by our hominid ancestors, we often see a hand which is in fact the hand of the artist pressed up against the wall and surrounded by color. It’s both a touching testimony to human-ity and the first true graphic creation.

Seventeenth century Japanese Katagami were stencils composed of elements held together with hair which allowed for highly elaborate designs, but this technique was still a far cry from screenprinting.

Serigraphy developed in England in the 19th century, as well as in France in the early 20th century under the name of “printing à la Lyonnaise”, or flat-frame printing, but it really began to be widely used in Europe after the Second World War. As the only technique adapted for printing on all kinds of surfaces, the pro-cess enjoyed rapid industrial growth.

Monique Frydman’s approach to screen-printing is particularly original. The screens were made from lace provided by factories from the Cateau-Cambrésis region. The artist used serigraphy as a medium, a tool for producing effects

that would be impossible to obtain other-wise. The technique became a means of expression for making one-of-a-kind art-works such as the tondos, the reworked prints on canvas and multiples such as the wallpapers.

On the one hand, there’s a connection to the traditional textile industry of the region, expressed through the choice of lace for making the screens, and on the other, there’s the successful gamble of the contemporary artist: the idea that the screenprinting process could be a new source of creative expression for her.

The Musée Matisse is to be commended for making this fascinating dialog pos-sible between the work of a great artist, the region’s traditional textile industry and a printing process which, although used in a relatively simple way, revealed itself to be an astonishing and innova-tive means of expression in the hands of Monique Frydman.

Éric Seydoux

This text appeared in the exhibition catalog La Couleur tissée (Woven Color) by Monique Frydman. The exhibition was held at the Musée Matisse in Cateau-Cambrésis, from March 5th until June 6th, 2006. Works created:

—Les Jours (The Days): five tondos, 2 meters in diameter, screenprint on linen stretched on metal frameworks (embroidery and lace designs).

—Les Fabriques (The Factories): screen-printed wallpaper (embroidered designs). Two alcoves are papered with it: La Rouge (Red) and La Vert émeraude (Emerald Green).

—Asarakusi: four variations, original screen-print on linen canvas from the 18th century mounted on stretcher bars, 78 × 78 cm.

—Les grandes arabesques tressées (The large braided arabesques): installation, 38 pieces on Plexiglas, 50 × 6 cm each.