Pièces Uniques, 1991-1992

Throughout the years 1991-92, Maurige continued to experiment, discovering all the possibilities offered by printing techniques - woodcut, stone, lithography, monotype, etching or linocut - but also the gestures created under pressure – rubbing, stamping, scraping...

In parallel with his Untitled series, he worked on other images of which only fifteen would be printed, signed and numbered 1/1. They are not monotypes, but rather lithographic trials printed in just one copy each.

Premier Jet I and Premier Jet II are Maurige's first two prints.

The six Glycéros/empreinte have the same format as Untitled, 1991, but here, the black drawing on the recto is not printed; it is handpainted by the artist, with the verso of the support printed in red.

In the two Billes frottements - the artist's first experience on lithographic stone - he tried another approach to covering the paper with color by rolling a multiplicity of balls of black alkyd paint dipped in litho ink over the entire surface of the stone. These two plates, as well as the four Litho + Aplat works, are very close in appearance to his paintings. Maurige, who at that time was seeking to accomplish something singular in his print work, set them aside and continued to explore other approaches.

Deux plaques, 2018

Two woodblocks were designed to create interlocking compositions: each block printed on both sides thus produced an overlapping effect. Unlike the previous series, this set of images required meticulous double-sided registration when printing. This is the first series in which Maurige’s editions were printed in blue.

Perroquet & Banjo, 2015

The title of this series refers to the curve templates architects use to draw rounded forms. This is the first time that both sides of the paper were printed from a lithographic stone. In the case of Perroquet & Banjo II, the same composition was printed on recto and verso.

Obliques + Rayures, 2011

For this series of nine compositions, two years of trials were needed to find a balance between the oblique black traces and the red stripes, made with thin blocks of MDF (medium density fiberboard) and often printed on both sides of the Japanese paper. Here again, the prints are similar to the artist’s paintings at the time.

Lithographie Trois Pierres, 2002

Three lithographic stones were placed on the ground, touching one another. The drawing was executed on all three stones in a single gesture. This is the largest print in Maurige’s body of work. Technically, it is a tour de force. The composition had to be reassembled on a single sheet of paper, with each stone passed through the press individually using a sophisticated marking system. An imprint from woodcut was added on the verso for color.

Diverses pressions, 1997

Diverses pressions is Maurige’s most comprehensive work on plastic woven bags. Twelve compositions were printed on white bags stamped with advertising logos, graphic elements that the artist integrated into his compositions, and whose brands often gave these works their titles. For some images, the black shape was printed from recycled, corrugated plastic sheets cut with an X-Acto knife.

Polypropylène polyéthylène, 1996

The year 1996 marks an important turning point in Maurige's printed work. He continued to experiment with ideas about luminosity by exploring the use of plastic supports. The first tests were done on transparent bubble wrap, but the method was quickly abandoned since the ink flaked upon drying. Maurige then imagined working on plastic rice bags used for transporting raw materials. The bags were recycled for handling rubble: printed and woven, their surfaces evoked the translucent papers used in the print shop for his previous series. The bags were cut open in two, like sheets of paper. On the recto, shapes printed in black were cut out of bits of plywood found in the street; a flat (or nearly flat) red covers the verso.

Polypropylène polyéthylène rose double face, 1996

These two images were printed using the same process – woodcut printed on both sides of a woven plastic rice bag - but in a larger format and here, only in pink.

Sac plein, 1999

Sac plein concludes this exploration on plastic material. Only one such edition was made. Maurige used the bag uncut, intact, without modification, printed inside and outside. Once printing was completed, the bag was filled with gravel, the work thus becoming a volume, empty, full, horizontal or vertical.

95 I-IV, 1995

This series of four lithographs is the only series by Maurige with one single color pass, in which the images were not conceived on both sides of the support. Here, his intention recalls that of his paintings, with the use of frottage and red shapes.

93–08, I-VII, 2008

In lithography, the act of printing always begins with graining the surface of the stone to receive the drawing. Lithographic stones, which are made of limestone and date back to the 19th century, are carefully sanded with sand and water to eliminate the previous composition and obtain a flat, uniform surface, considered essential for a "successful" lithograph. In this set of seven lithographs, begun in 1993, the artist subverted this ritual. In four compositions, he used the back of the stones in their original state, without graining. For the other three, he asked for stones polished with the largest possible grain size, creating surfaces like coarse sandpaper. He then covered the stone in ink or lithographic pencil. Fifteen years later, in 2008, these images were reworked with the addition of a second color pass in red on the verso.

Untitled, 1991

This first collaboration with the Woolworth print shop is the result of several months of experimentation on the concepts of luminosity, opacity, density and translucency, by making double-sided prints on very fine, sometimes almost transparent papers. For this series of four lithographs, Maurige first made drawings with alkyd paint, creating "allover" textures in black on a kind of glassine paper. The drawings were then transferred to metal lithographic plates through light exposure. The drawings were printed in lithography in black on the recto of the support, and on the verso in red with a wooden board, thus establishing the artist’s printmaklng vocabulary.