History of Communism

"A History of Communism is an extraordinary series of new prints by the seminal American artist Jim Dine made from lithographic stones found in what was previously a socialist art academy in the German Democratic Republic. Dine received the stones from his friends Sarah Dudley and Ulie Kuhle, lithographic printers based in Berlin. The recovered stones had been untouched for years and most intriguingly for the artist, still possessed 40 years' worth of preserved images drawn by students under the oppressive regime. The anonymous drawings, remnants of a government and country that no longer formally exists, immediately appealed to the artist. The whole process of creating this exhibition took two and a half years, with Dine working on top of the original drawings, careful not to 'subvert' the images he had inherited."--Alan Cristea Gallery website.