A masked man is printing with his feet a long paper roll. To the rhythm of his steps the paper is covered with ink. He walks 100 meters. Then there is a shot. The printer falls. The scene is covered with blood.
On March 11, 1979 Marcos Kurtycz presents his performance “Death of a Printer” at the Auditorio Nacional in Mexico City. This printing ritual, homage to the clandestine printers, is considered by many as his entrance into the world of performance in Mexico. For the 45 years old Polish artist it is also a conscious acknowledgement of printing as a fundamental line of his art.
This website is the product of seven years of research concerning the work of Marcos Kurtycz from a print makers point of view. We want to show how his adoption of printing as an artistic expression did not limit itself to the use of techniques and tools. The printing process and its artefacts offered the artist, by its intrinsic characteristics, the possibility to express ideas and concepts such as the ritual and the testimony, that are a fundamental part of his art work.
