Untitled (Abe-Takano 03)

Third in the numbered Abe-Takano sequence, this intaglio reflects the collaborative method that has defined the duo's practice since their formation at Aichi University of the Arts. The senior-junior pairing — Daisuke Abe completed his MFA there in 2004 after a BFA in Print at Kyoto Seika University, and Takeshi Takano followed in 2005 after a BFA in Print at Tama Art University — places them within the Aichi print lineage that has produced a recognizable strand of contemporary Japanese printmakers. The choice to leave the prints untitled and to identify them only by series number directs attention away from individual subject and toward the cumulative texture of the project. Intaglio's particular resources — the precision of etched line, the atmospheric tone of aquatint, the soft register of soft-ground — permit a different vocabulary of mark from the carved relief surfaces of historical hanga. The duo's selection for the 3rd PATinKyoto Print Art Triennale in 2022 confirmed their position within the active circle of artist-printmakers working in Kyoto and the surrounding region.