DANIEL GONZALEZ
IMPRINT COORDINATION BY RHIANNON ALPERS
______________________________________________________
2009
Edition of 100
14 pages
Letterpress printed
4x4"
2 color; text with illustrations
Long-stitch sewn into stiff paper covers
$44 SOLD OUT
Bichos del Campo is letterpress-printed in 2 color on Rives Heavyweight 175 gsm and bound in Bhutan Shawa covers. Binding design by Vi Thuc Ha.
Bichos del Campo is a bestiary of three Mexican folk tales re-told and illustrated by artist Daniel Gonzalez. As the artist relates: "My work is inspired by the folk stories that my parents and grandparents have passed on. I have a desire to invent and share my own narratives and vision through printmaking. I want to be able to communicate through the image an invitation to tell a new story to be told or an old one to be remembered." Bichos del Campo translates as Creatures of the Fields. Its introductory text and fables are illustrated in Daniel's signature linoleum block print style, delivering on the mood set in his preface:
"If there was ever a setting where anything was possible, where the real and imagined can coexist, it would be in the ranchos of my grandparents. At night, the small flicker of the kerosene lamp was the only light for miles in a night filled with sounds. In these adobe homes, I learned that bees pray, snakes steal milk from cows, and some people fly in the shape of owls."
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Daniel studied graphic design and printmaking at the California College of the Arts. He currently lives and works in Los Angeles where he served a two-year apprenticeship at La Mano Press before striking out on his own. He draws on his Mexican heritage and bicultural experiences in much of his artwork. Culture is about change and growth, the artist explains, "I feel that it is my responsibility as an artist to be a vehicle for culture, to inspire a sensibility of the creative, to pierce the fence we have built to keep ourselves apart and to remind people of the common experience we share in life."