David Tremlett, 'Abyssinia', 1989

Abyssinia 

David Tremlett b. 1945 

Screen print

61 x 79

1989

£50 

2013.011

I bought this print in 1999. I paid £50 for it.  It is 30/100. This was one of a series of print editions by the Serpentine Gallery.  I remember that I had tried to buy the Bridget Riley which was under-priced at the same time but that this had sold out immediately.  

They exercised a practised snottiness on the phone when I asked them to roll the print and post it to me (relax no harm was done) but I did wonder whether a conservator was really needed for the task. 

Tremlett was nominated for the Turner prize in 1992 alongside Grenville Davey, Damien Hirst and Alison Wilding.  Astonishingly Grenville Davey won!  Looking back on it 20 years later is a bit like remembering who was in the charts.  

As it happens I do remember who was in the charts: Whitney Houston, Snap, Shakespeares Sister and the Shamen: ‘E’s are good’ (snigger).

Tremlett’s drawings (colourings) are normally made in a specific place and drawn directly onto their support engaging with the structure of walls and buildings, both inside and out. Works that can be bought (especially as cheap as this) are rare. I like it, I like the structure of the truncated word complete and not complete. 'Sin' links the bathroom and bedroom in our house (snigger again).

It was a transition year in which the eighties became history and the millennium became a prospect. Actually it wasn't a good year at all.

I have updated this entry having found the certificate that came with it. It cost less than I thought. I have to say the Serpentine editions are very good value.

Victoria and Albert Museum

David Tremlett

Serpentine Gallery