Jim Butler: Blackrock Sequence

 Jim Butler is an artist and printmaker who specialises in producing original prints and artists' books. He takes his inspiration from the urban environment and draws with ink and collage directly on location. 

I was particularly interested in his collaborative book ‘Blackrock Sequence’, a limited edition artists’ book with illustrations by Butler, responding to poems by David Butler. The 11 poems are a sequence which explores the cultural, historic and ecological richness of a stretch of suburban Dublin coastline. Each poem responds to a specific location. One of the themes which runs through the poems is the idea of the city as a palimpsest.

Blackrock Sequence

24 pp - 38 cm x 28 cm

Screenprinted in 12 colours on BFK Rives

2017

For his illustrations, Butler made a series of collages on location and took rubbings from manhole covers and incidental plaques. He says he ‘was looking for a common visual language which could draw out the layers of meaning, while still being specific to both the location and tone of each poem.’ He used screenprint and found typography to finalise each image and add layers- an important visual element to the notion of a ‘palimpsest’. 

In terms of Butler’s work, he tends to explore a range of printing techniques within the books he makes, sometimes mixing them within the pages themselves whether that be collage, screenprint or the simple addition of drawings. 

I loved the beautiful colourful collages in the collaborative poetry book, but I also liked the more gritty style of A.M.D.G, a book containing a series of etched prints as well as screen prints in a drawn style. 

 

A.M.D.G.

42 pp - 20.2cm x 15.5 cm

Etching & screenprinting on Fabriano Rosaspina

2013

The way the two mediums interact is very intriguing- initially the prints- which are comprised of intricate text appearing as a complete image- seem simple, but when you look closely you can see the tiny detail etched into the black, and it’s very effective. 

http://www.jimbutlerartist.com/books.htm