Rebus - Matt Magee
Inspired by and formatted as an ancient Chinese wax seal, ‘Rebus’ combines the most well-known Tennessee Architectural landmarks with celebratory expressive mark making. Tightly scaled iconographic forms and gestures were drawn out in sequence from top left to lower right to create a paragraph that relates to both history and the present day. Historically, Chinese personalized seals also known as chops marked important documents and relate directly and are precursors to the contemporary printmaking practice wherein a print shop will emboss their personalized identification symbol known as a ‘chop mark’ into a lower right or left corner of a completed print.
The word "rebus" comes from the Latin phrase "non verbis, sed rebus," which translates to "not by words, but by things". This phrase captures the essence of a rebus, which uses pictures or symbols to represent words or phrases, rather than relying on conventional written words.
Inspired by and formatted as an ancient Chinese wax seal, ‘Rebus’ combines the most well-known Tennessee Architectural landmarks with celebratory expressive mark making. Tightly scaled iconographic forms and gestures were drawn out in sequence from top left to lower right to create a paragraph that relates to both history and the present day. Historically, Chinese personalized seals also known as chops marked important documents and relate directly and are precursors to the contemporary printmaking practice wherein a print shop will emboss their personalized identification symbol known as a ‘chop mark’ into a lower right or left corner of a completed print.
The word "rebus" comes from the Latin phrase "non verbis, sed rebus," which translates to "not by words, but by things". This phrase captures the essence of a rebus, which uses pictures or symbols to represent words or phrases, rather than relying on conventional written words.
Inspired by and formatted as an ancient Chinese wax seal, ‘Rebus’ combines the most well-known Tennessee Architectural landmarks with celebratory expressive mark making. Tightly scaled iconographic forms and gestures were drawn out in sequence from top left to lower right to create a paragraph that relates to both history and the present day. Historically, Chinese personalized seals also known as chops marked important documents and relate directly and are precursors to the contemporary printmaking practice wherein a print shop will emboss their personalized identification symbol known as a ‘chop mark’ into a lower right or left corner of a completed print.
The word "rebus" comes from the Latin phrase "non verbis, sed rebus," which translates to "not by words, but by things". This phrase captures the essence of a rebus, which uses pictures or symbols to represent words or phrases, rather than relying on conventional written words.
Matt Magee
Rebus
Single-color lithograph
Paper Size: 11” x 11”
Paper Type: cream Rives BFK
Edition of 8