2023-06-16 16:00:00
The Viennese Christoph Chavanne ran his print shop in Apetlon quietly and secretly with his partner Gabriele Pechmann – until a few weeks ago someone discovered the work title “Me in Apetlon” under a print in the Vienna Albertina under a print by the internationally recognized artist Jim Dine, and started researching. An article on burgenland.orf.at and a contribution from “Burgenland Today” later, he says he is now “world-famous in Apetlon”, as he jokingly notes.
A print of Jim Dine’s “Me in Apetlon” from Chavanne’s Printing Office.
Photo:
Klaus Zwinger
In fact, said artist Jim Dine wasn’t back with him until February. During this visit, the now 88-year-old was back for a few days to live out his creative streak. “But he is incredibly agile and we also had to give 120 percent during this time. He is also a master of his craft, there is hardly a book on the subject of lithography or printing techniques in general that does not have a leaf regarding Jim Dine,” says Chavanne regarding his experiences with the internationally recognized artist.
Chavanne and his partner Pechmann show one of their prints.
Photo:
Klaus Zwinger
The career to the chosen address of the masters
In 1989, Chavanne graduated from the Graphic Arts School, where he already had contact with a wide range of printing processes such as stone printing, etching and screen printing. Soon he opened a stone printing workshop with a friend, and with his skills it was only natural to study art. “But I was already working with a few good artists at the lithography site back then, and I decided I’d rather become a good printer than a second-rate artist,” jokes the Viennese resident of Apetlon today.
Huge prints can be realized in Chavanne’s workshop. The largest so far was a 2×4 meter for Jim Dine.
Photo:
Klaus Zwinger
From Vienna we went to a workshop in Fischamend, which had its advantages due to its size and its proximity to Vienna Schwechat Airport, but the daily journey via the A4 was reason enough to come up with something else. In 2017, Chavanne finally had his printing workshop built in Apetlon, which he still runs successfully today with his partner Gabriele Pechmann.
The exhibition “Andy Warhol to Damien Hirst – The Revolution in Printmaking”, including prints by Jim Dine and monotypes by Herbert Brandl from Christoph Chavanne’s workshop in Apetlon, can be viewed at the Albertina Modern in Vienna until August 13 .
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