Where's Duchamp, 2011

Bethan Huws' screenprint references one of the artists idols, Marcel Duchamp. The stark and simple text is often seen as an allusion to Duchamps' considered approach to making work. Another interpretation is that the text is a celebratory statement – Duchamps' artistic legacy has made him one of the most important artists of the 20th century and, as such, he has secured his place in the history books.

Either way, Huws' exploration of Duchamp's art has provided fertile inspiration for Huws' textual prents. In interview, Huws requoted Duchamp's statement that "the spectator brings the work in contact with the external world" and reclaiming the philosophy as her own beliefs that viewing art - as well as creating - is part of the creative process; that the artist is not in a vacuum, that perception actually changes the artistic output. Buws is unique in that she investigates Duchamp through textual prints that allude to his attitude and philosophy, rather than an art historical approach. She carries out her own philosophical suppositions; viewing his art and making her own as part of an ongoing cycle of creation, rather than imitating or studying him detachedly.

Her series of "Reading Duchamp" is perhaps more a continuation of his work than tributary. She says "I think Duchamp seems to have swapped the colours of the painter for the sound of words" - her textual prints about Duchamp vivify his philosophical legacy into her contemporary art.

two-colour screen print, Edition of 50, 38.2 x 45.8 cm (sheet)