Biography

Ulrich Kühle (born 1975 in Soest, Germany) has completed a traditional apprenticeship in intaglio and lithography at Druckgrafik Kätelhön in Wamel, Germany. During this time he printed for international artists, including Falko Behrendt (Germany), Helmtrud Nyström (Sweden) and Liz Ingram (Canada). In 2002 Ulrich completed the Master Printer Training Program at Tamarind Institute. The road leading from Tamarind to co-founding Keystone Editions with Sarah Dudley in Berlin was a long and winding path; the pair travelled via Ireland, the U.K. and Germany to Africa and Australia, working in a number of printshops with artists such as William Kentridge and Jim Dine.

Abstract

“Around the World with 80 Grit: the Printmaker as Nomad”
It took Sarah Dudley and Ulrich Kuehle a bit longer than 80 days to travel around the world, but travel the world they did, bouncing from one exciting printmaking project to the next. This is the story of their experiences working with many different artists, from the illustrious (Jim Dine, Michaela Melián, William Kentridge) to the fascinating (members of the San Tribes in Botswana’s Kalahari Desert; Indigenous Australian artists in remote outback communities).

Sarah (Montréal, Canada) and Ulrich (Soest, Germany) were planning to return to their respective homes upon completing the Master Printer Training Program at Tamarind Institute, but the travel Gods had other plans in mind. The pair kept notes of the best bits they learned along the way and in 2010 invested this invaluable experience into starting up their own workshop: Keystone Editions in Berlin.

This talk will highlight some of the most exciting projects from the pre-Keystone travels, including:

• an installation of lithographs on fabric for the International Clinton Peace Centre in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland (2003);
• the “Slow Food” portfolio of large format lithographs with six German artists in Munich (2005);
• lithographs with San/Bushman artists in Botswana’s Kalahari Desert (2005-6);
• etchings and linocuts with Indigenous artists in Australian Outback communities (2006-7);
• print-collages and print sculptures with William Kentridge in South Africa (2007).

All of these wonderful experiences have inspired Sarah and Ulrich to see if The World According to Lithography really is flat.  At Keystone, exploration and experimentation are the focus, (something still quite unique in the landscape of printmaking in Germany). The weirder, the better, as far as they are concerned. So far, lithographs at Keystone Editions have been made with the oddest drawing materials, such as perfume, snail slime and most recently, birthday cake sparklers.