Art meets News of the Weird
Artists immortalizes strange true stories via woodblock printing
Kristen Pauch-Nolin

American printmaker Kurt Webb describes A News Millennium: A Year in Pictures as “social commentary that provokes the viewer through humour, satire and cynicism.”

Comprising a series of 12 woodblock prints, the exhibition explores the absurd extremes of human behaviour. Based on the most bizarre stories offered by international newspapers, the images combine to create a veritable freak show of artwork.

At the beginning of the new millennium, Webb began collecting extraordinary, true-to-life news stories from around the world. Selecting only the most outrageous, the artist ‘commemorated’ the contents of each article through the production of a woodcut print. Intentionally graphic, the images provide viewers with the opportunity to gawk at naughty pictures of fellow humans engaged in shocking and even detestable behaviour.

With titles such as Man bites python, escapes death and Husband puts gambling wife in shackles, the stylistic and skilfully rendered artworks suggest a serious visual investigation of tabloid subject matter. Treated with striking attention to detail, texture and composition, each image demonstrates the artist’s commitment to creating an effective and complete visual narrative for each story.

In Women put braggart to the test, Webb presents the image of five strong female forms surrounding an obviously exhausted and exaggerated nude male figure. The image, based on a true story from the Bangkok Post, tells of a group of women who set out to challenge the boastings of a man who had been advertising his male prowess by engaging him in an extensive and multi-partnered sexual encounter.

By treating the image formally, Webb denies viewers the opportunity to indulge their initial reactions. The approach subverts the potential hilariousness and absurdity of the tale and results in an ironic respect granted to the image. Surprisingly, the story is communicated without prejudice despite the artist’s authentic, direct and strong delivery of the information.

Similarly, the account of a woman from India who engaged in an indecent act of civil disobedience is treated with stoic dignity. In Peeved at dirty toilets, woman urinates in government office, Webb presents a tightly arranged composition with bold lines and sharp contrasts. The central image of the woman is rendered with a simple clarity, effectively positioning her as a character full of strength and determination.

The execution of the images through woodblock printing, a medium understood as a precursor to movable type, contributes additional conceptual components to the finished pieces. Dating back to early in the ninth century, woodblock printing offers Webb with an opportunity to suggest that the stories he is telling have a timeless quality of sorts. It appears that humans have an almost intrinsic compulsion to watch other people’s misfortunes with horrid fascination.

By creating expressive and engaging images, Webb challenges the tendency of both society and the media to either exploit or dismiss stories of human frailty. Creating an alternative context for these kinds of stories, he effectively transforms them from simply antidotes into poignant examples of human pathos.

For more info see our What’s Up entertainment listings