Nick Goss, Collections 2017-2022: Book Opening

Nick Goss’ Collections: 2017-2022 gathers together all his silkscreens from this period. Initially, intended as a preparatory device for making larger paintings, Goss found the paintings began to inform the silkscreens as much as the other way around.  Images presented range from photographs taken whilst walking down London streets, of Turkish Restaurants and funeral parlors, many nearby in Elephant and Castle, to pictures taken from old secondhand books. Many of the latter focus on famous floods in Holland, which for Goss – who is half Dutch, explore a relationship to nature and water that is particular to Dutch people.  Images are printed using a variety of resoluble inks fabricated by the artist, which can be reactivated using a water-soaked sponge, making it possible to re-make and re-imagine the images endlessly. The enormous sheets of delicate Japanese Kozo paper in this book transform the mundane act of the turning the page into a theatrical and physical challenge.