E.124 Outlying districts 2001

• I. 1st state of 5

  Etching. A view across a narrow stretch of water from under a derelict bridge and partly finished overpass beside which are two bare trees. The distant shore is edged with trees, in front of which is a row of six lights, some reflected in the water. At the lower right is a man who walks away from traffic lights towards the right. Billowing clouds occupy the central square of the composition. The subject is lightly etched, especially in the left half of the image, and some foul biting is evident in the upper sky. There are two variant impressions of this state.

  1. Selectively wiped impression with light plate tone, on wove paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Alphington studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘1-1’; lower centre: ‘The Outlying Districts’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor 01’.
  2. Cleanly wiped, somewhat dry impression on wove paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Alphington studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘2-1’; lower centre: ‘The Outlying Districts’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor 01’.

• I.a. 1st state of 5

  

  Etching. A view across a narrow stretch of water from under a derelict bridge and partly finished overpass beside which are two bare trees. The distant shore is edged with trees, in front of which is a row of six lights, some reflected in the water. At the lower right is a man who walks away from traffic lights towards the right. Billowing clouds occupy the central square of the composition. The subject is lightly etched, especially in the left half of the image, and some foul biting is evident in the upper sky. There are two variant impressions of this state.

• II. 2nd state of 5

  Tonal adjustments have been made with a burnisher to a number of cross-hatched areas. These include the concrete structure at left, the central area of clouds, the tall round column, the figure of the man and the facing side of the square pillar. To balance this, and to increase the sense of space, new areas of cross-hatching have been added to the blank spaces on the derelict bridge at the top, and the concrete structure at left. The clouds have been extended to the right edge of the plate and at the upper left.

  Impression on wove paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Alphington studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘1-2’; lower centre: ‘The Outlying Districts’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor 01’.

• III. 3rd state of 5

  The new work here relies entirely on the burnisher. The cross-hatched shading at the upper left has been selectively burnished to alleviate its flatness. The distant row of trees has been burnished in two places at the left, and there is horizontal burnishing in the central clouds, on the square pillar and immediately to its lower left. There are four variant impressions of this state.

  1. Selectively wiped impression with plate tone, on wove Magnani paper with watermark, printed by Rick Amor in his Alphington studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘1-3’; lower centre: ‘The Outlying Districts’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor 01’.
  2. Cleanly wiped impression on wove Magnani paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Alphington studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘2-3’; lower centre: ‘The Outlying Districts’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor 01’.
  3. Cleanly wiped impression on textured wove paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Alphington studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘3-3’; lower centre: ‘The Outlying Districts’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor 01’.
  4. Dark impression with plate tone, on wove paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Alphington studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘1-4’; lower centre: ‘The Outlying Districts’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor 01’. Although inscribed ‘1-4’, this is an impression of the third state.

• IV. 4th state of 5

  

  The plate has been re-etched and much new etching has been added throughout, evoking a mood of turbulent darkness. Dark clouds are now visible at the upper right, and the entire foreground has been darkened with cross-hatching.

  Cleanly wiped, bright impression on wove paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Alphington studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘1-5’; lower centre: ‘The Outlying Districts’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor 01’. Although inscribed ‘1-5’, this is an impression of the fourth state.

• V. 5th and final state

  An area in the central clouds has been burnished to enhance the clouds’ volume and to provide a central highlight. Of the four impressions printed of this state, three have been located.

  1. Selectively wiped impression with plate tone, on wove paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Alphington studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘2-6’; lower centre: ‘The Outlying Districts’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor 01’. Although inscribed ‘2-6’, this is an impression of the fifth state.
  2. Cleanly wiped impression on wove paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Alphington studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘3-6’; lower centre: ‘The Outlying Districts’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor 01’. Although inscribed ‘3-6’, this is an impression of the fifth state.
  3. Dark impression with much plate tone, on wove paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Alphington studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘4-6’; lower centre: ‘The Outlying Districts’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor 01’. Although inscribed ‘4-6’, this is an impression of the fifth state.

• Edition, 2001

  The title has been changed to Outlying Districts. Edition of ten numbered impressions, on wove Magnani Acqueforti paper, printed by Martin King at the Australian Print Workshop, Fitzroy (Melbourne), July 2001. The edition included a bon à tirer impression, an artist’s proof (AP I/I) and two APW workshop proofs. Each impression is inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘[status of impression]’ [or] ‘[1 through 10]/10’; lower centre: ‘Outlying Districts’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor 01’. Chop mark in lower left corner: ‘APW [within rectangle]’.

  Edition sheet size: 380 x 410 mm

• Artist’s proof (from edition, 2001; impression of 5th and final state) (Featured Image)

  

  An area in the central clouds has been burnished to enhance the clouds’ volume and to provide a central highlight.

• Comment

  The subject of this etching is invented and is based on multiple sources, Amor’s aim being the creation of a generalized image of civic neglect and emptiness – but an image that also mirrored the existential emptiness of the alienated individual.

  The artist’s interest in depicting urban backwaters has been sustained through a great number of drawn, painted and printed images, and is rooted as much in his sociopolitical beliefs as it is in his desire to go against the grain of the art of his day by choosing subject matter that is aesthetically challenging. For works by Amor on themes similar to that reflected in E.124, see, for example, Outlying district, 1995 (cat. no. E.097), The empty district, 1996 (E.105), and Peripheral landscape, 1998 (E.112).

  The composition of E.124 was first worked out in a gouache, which then formed the basis of both the etching and a subsequent painting, The outlying districts, 2001–02 (Fry 2008); each of these versions contains small variations in detail.

  In taking E.124 through its five states, Amor printed multiple impressions of three of the states, in order to work out the tonal and spatial construction of the composition, and to modulate its mood.