Defenestration Suite #3

Christopher Wool

2023

An etching with aquatint by Christopher Wool that pairs the printed word “defenestration” with a dense knot of looping, calligraphic black marks to stage a tug between language and physical action.

You first notice a rigid, faintly printed rectangular field invaded by restless, variable‑thickness lines that loop, cross and slice through the central word, the plate’s burr and dusty impressions giving the surface a raw, worked texture.

Translating his verbal provocation into print, Wool fuses typographic and gestural traditions to show how text can acquire corporeal, even violent meaning when embedded in abstract, painterly marks.

Palette

Exhibitions

Committed to Print

1988

Works from Change, Inc.

1974

American Prints, 1960–1985

1987

New Work in Black and White

1981