Discarded rubber blankets from offset printing press, mounted on wood
181.4 x 121.6 x 7.6 (cm)
71.4 x 47.9 x 3.0 (inch)
As suggested by their titles, the series Offset MC and Offset PA share a common origin, they are both created by using the aluminum plaques and the rubber blanket cylinders that are discarded from offset printing houses and are classified afterwards by categories such as color and wear. In Offset MC the cylinder blankets used have absorbed the ink and pigments of the printing process printing and thus slowly generate color markings of a simultaneously ethereal and intense character. As is characteristic of de la Mora’s work, the result is a number of found paintings. For example, the vibrant blue hues of a blanket cylinder recall – in a surprising fashion– a painting by Rothko. Such fidelity would rarely be achieved by hand or by attempting to consciously imitate said work. The tension between the unique and unrepeatable with mechanical labor is once again manifested in this series; it is through a technical and industrialized process that an auratic artwork is created.
