WILLIAM KENTRIDGE: STUDIO LIFE GRAVURES
Solo Exhibition | October 25 - December 16, 2023, New York

Jillian Ross Print and David Krut Projects are pleased to present a new body of work through an exciting collaboration between William Kentridge, Master Printer Jillian Ross and the David Krut Workshop, together with photogravure experts, Steven Dixon in Edmonton, Canada and Zhané Warren in Cape Town, South Africa.

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William Kentridge, The Old Gods Have Retired , 2022, Photogravure, sugarlift aquatint, direct gravure, drypoint and handpainted chine coll, Papers include found ledgers from early 1900s encyclopedia paper and others, Paper size: approx. 1.745m x 2.147m, Edition: Trial Proof III, Price on request

Standing in the fallout of a global pandemic one takes a retrospective look back at the various drastic adaptations that humanity has very recently undergone. Ushered suddenly into an unanticipated international state of emergency, every sector of contemporary society was forced into an accelerated state of evolution to adapt to a constantly changing work environment. 

This collaborative project is a continuation of a process that began as an innovative solution aimed towards creating a series of prints within the confines of self-isolation over great geographical distances. Spanning over three continents, this project seeks to explore and expand on the inventive processes that artist William Kentridge and Master Printer Jillian Ross have developed to collaborate on the creation of a new body of prints.

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The making of Studio Life photogravure series in Johannesburg, South Africa

The making of Eight Vessels photogravure in Saskatoon, Canada


Kentridge at work, using the window as a natural light source, Kentridge creates the image that would eventually become "Beckmann's Self-Portrait with Jam Jar and Scissors"

Where it all began

Collaboration history
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The history of this collaboration began twenty years ago in 2002, when David Krut established his own print workshop in Johannesburg, after which William Kentridge became a frequent collaborator with Master Printer Jillian Ross and her team at the David Krut Workshop.

Kentridge has worked with Jillian Ross and the David Krut Workshop on various large-scale print series, including The Nose series from 2006 to 2010, The Universal Archive from 2012 to 2016, The Triumphs and Laments Woodcut series from 2016 to 2019, and, currently, the Studio Life series since 2020. Other collaborations include The Magic Flute Doves, L’Inesorabile Avanzata, and various other prints that were created alongside Kentridge’s ongoing theatre and film productions.


Jillian Ross and William Kentridge working collaboratively in studio 

In 2020, after 16 years of working at the David Krut Workshop as the Master Printer and Director of the workshop, Ross returned to Canada where Ross and her partner, Brendan Copestake, opened a collaborative print studio in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

William Kentridge, Tree (17), 2022, Direct Gravure and drypoint with red pencil on gampi 20gsm, Paper size: 56.5 x 62.9 cm, Edition of 36, Price on request

A renewed practice

About this project

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This body of prints is a culmination of three years of collaborations between studios and highlights the unique skills and practiced techniques of the individuals in each studio. It is a collaboration where all come together to make sense of a renewed working practice through gravure printmaking. 

During numerous COVID lockdowns around the world and not having the ability to travel and work collaboratively in person, Kentridge suggested the age-old method of photogravure as a methodology of working together while remaining  in isolation. 


Jillian Ross in Kentridge's work space in London, with the painted image with the tree grauve in the foreground

Concurrently, in his Houghton studio, Kentridge was working on a new film series based on his ‘studio life’ practices. This period of isolation allowed Kentridge time for a sustained investigation into the significance of the studio in his making, his meaning, and his working processes while not yet understanding the lasting effects to come from COVID-related events.

William Kentridge at Arts on Main, David Krut Projects printmaking studio

Through the lens of film stills, cell phone photos, and hi-res photographs, a new body of gravure prints emerged as part of Kentridge’s Studio Life which has developed in film, drawings, mixed media artworks and in print.


William Kentridge, Beckmann's Self-Portrait with Jam Jar and Scissors, 2022, Paper size: 56.5 x 50 cm, Edition of 36, Price on request

Published by Jillian Ross Print and David Krut Projects. 

Collaborating Printer, Jillian Ross

Photogravure by Steven Dixon, Luke Johnson, Alex Thompson (Edmonton, Canada) with Zhane Warren (Cape Town)

Editioning and image development at David Krut Workshop (Johannesburg South Africa)

Editioning printers, Kim-Lee Loggenberg, Sbongiseni Khulu, Roxy Kaczmarck and Sarah Judge

David Krut Projects, New York
526 West 26th Street, #816, New York, NY 10001
Gallery Hours: Fri 11am – 6pm, or by appointment
Please email info@davidkrut.com to schedule an appointment
+ 1 (212) 255-3094

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