Utopia Editions: Cynthia Talmadge | April 28—May 26, 2023

This hand-finished screenprint by Cynthia Talmadge, 1076 Madison, is part of the artist’s celebrated body of work depicting New York’s Frank E. Campbell funeral parlor, which debuted at 56 Henry, New York, in 2017.

1076 Madison

Cynthia Talmadge

1076 Madison, 2023

20-color screenprint with hand additions on Coventry Rag paper

28 x 20 inches (71.1 x 50.8 cm)
Edition of 45, 8 AP

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Cynthia Talmadge in the print studio where she worked with Brad Ewing of Marginal Editions to develop her print. Photo by Vincent Tullo

Situated on the corner of Madison Avenue and 81st Street in Manhattan’s Upper East Side, Frank E. Campbell is the world’s most exclusive funeral home, having arranged funerals for luminaries including Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, John Lennon, Heath Ledger, Judy Garland, The Notorious B.I.G., Jim Henson, Gloria Vanderbilt, and most recently, the fictional Logan Roy on the HBO series Succession.

A reception was held for Talmadge’s series 1076 Madison in the Presidential Suite at Frank E. Campbell Funeral Chapel in 2019—simultaneously an opening and a “wake” for the paintings, following the exhibition at 56 Henry the year prior. Photo by Jessica Craig-Martin / Trunk Archive

Talmadge’s 1076 Madison series portrays the funeral home from different vantage points and in varied seasonal weather and light; the new print features a sanguine springtime view. Together the works comprise a dramatically memorialized portrait of the iconic site. Installation view, Cynthia Talmadge, 1076 Madison, 56 Henry, New York, 2018. Courtesy the artist and 56 Henry

The facade of the funeral parlor also acts as a powerful memento mori, a reminder of the transience of life and the inevitability of death—a theme that artists have returned to throughout history. Cynthia Talmadge, 1076 Madison, 2023 (detail). Photo by Vincent Tullo

After a number of deaths in her immediate family, Talmadge set out to obsessively paint and repaint the facade of the funeral home as a sort of publicly performed, self-consciously misguided ritual attempt at catharsis that highlights the limitations of our commercial rites in the face of actual loss.

This new edition captures the seasonal play of light on the funeral parlor’s facade. The disjuncture between the pointillist style, which was once at the forefront of modernist avant-garde painting, and the macabre subject matter adds a layer of tension to the work, highlighting the performative dimension of the site itself.

Talmadge captures the seasonal play of light on the funeral parlor’s facade in a neo-impressionist style. Featured works in GIF: Georges Seurat, Eiffel Tower, c. 1889 (detail). Courtesy Legion of Honor, Fine Art Museums of San Francisco; Claude Monet, Rouen Cathedral, West Façade, Sunlight, 1894 (detail). Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC

LIKE MONET PAINTING THE ROUEN CATHEDRAL, MS. TALMADGE HAS PAINTED THE FUNERAL HOME’S FACADE FROM DIFFERENT ANGLES, IN DIFFERENT SEASONS, AT DIFFERENT TIMES OF DAY.
—ROBERTA SMITH, THE NEW YORK TIMES

To create this work, Talmadge deconstructed her painting practice to translate it into print. When she paints, Talmadge shifts between colors freely, building up surfaces to create a delicate play of light and shadow.

For the print, the artist had to consider each color as a single layer. She painted these layers directly onto mylar films, which were exposed onto screens and printed by Brad Ewing of Marginal Editions. Finally, Talmadge went back into each individual print with a paintbrush to add final touches by hand.

Each sheet of mylar contains all the visual information to be printed in a single color. Photo by Vincent Tullo

Talmadge and Ewing mixed and tested numerous times before landing on the final colors. Photo by Vincent Tullo

Talmadge painted twenty distinct layers on mylar in her laborious pointillist technique. Photo by Vincent Tullo

Each mylar was exposed onto a screen to be printed in a single color by Ewing. Here, Talmadge leafs through the completed mylars in the print shop. Photo by Vincent Tullo

Talmadge holds one of the screens used to create 1076 Madison. Photo by Vincent Tullo

The completed edition dries on print racks in the studio. Photo by Vincent Tullo

Talmadge hand-painted finishing touches on each print in the edition before signing and numbering in pencil. Photos by Vincent Tullo

“I had questions about Campbell’s particular brand of rarified melancholy and wanted to explore a strange quiet space on the ethereal outer edge of spectacle.”

—Cynthia Talmadge

About the artist

In her varied body of work, which includes paintings, photographs, and installations, New York-based artist Cynthia Talmadge (b. 1989) explores the dynamics between public arenas and private, often psychologically charged, spaces through the lens of contemporary American culture. Her atmospheric scenes, whether real or depicted, simultaneously encapsulate a deep sense of ambiguity as well as a heightened degree of emotional tension.

Talmadge’s recent solo exhibitions have been presented at Bortolami Gallery, New York (2023); Carl Kostyal, London (2022); 56 Henry, New York (2021-2022); and 56 Henry, New York (2018). Her work is held in the collections of Barnard College, Columbia University, New York; NY Mint Museum, Charlotte; The Bunker, Palm Beach. Talmadge is represented by 56 Henry.

Photos by Vincent Tullo

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