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Lesley Schiff (born January 27, 1951) is an American artist. [1] She is known for her practice of using color laser printers to create images. Her art covers subjects from worldly affairs to nature and the mystical. [2] Many of her works are included in the collections of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Whitney Museum of American Art, the Museum of Modern Art, and Buckingham Palace. [3] [4]
Schiff majored in painting at The Art Institute of Chicago. After graduating in 1974 she moved to New York City. The next year she began using a Xerox 6500 color copier as a paintbrush and by 1981 she had completed her first collection of prints titled Seasons, which was acquired by The Metropolitan Museum of Art that same year. [5]
After Seasons was obtained by the Metropolitan Museum of Art's permanent collection, the portfolio was acquired by Gianfranco Ferre, Manufacturers Hanover & Trust, Chase Manhattan Bank Collection, Goldman Sachs, The New York Public Library, and Security Pacific National Bank. [6]
In 1990, Canon USA took notice of Schiff’s work and donated the Canon CLC 500, one of their newest color laser copiers to her studio. Unlike most other color copiers of the time, the Canon CLC 500 was able to use black ink, giving Schiff access to use darker tones in her art. Canon went on to fund her first exhibit using black: The Color of Light, and continues to sponsor her.
In 1992, Schiff was commissioned by International Papers, Hammermill brand to endorse the archival papers they produced for their laser photocopiers. They sponsored her exhibition Angels & Money which toured around America, going to Dallas, Los Angeles, Atlanta, and Seattle.
In 1993, Columbia Records commissioned 104 portraits of their recording artists for a permanent installation on 3 floors of their executive offices. This project took her until 1995 to complete. [7]
While on commission, Schiff was introduced to Bob Dylan’s manager in 1997, which finally resulted in a contract in 2005 for a limited edition portrait of Dylan. This portrait consisted of 45 images: 15 divergent images of Dylan, 15 icons that reflected his enigmatic persona and 15 illustrated songs using a font designed exclusively by Matthew Carter for the lyrics. [8] [9]
Schiff's art is in individual, corporate and museum collections around the world including those of:
Xerox art is an art form that began in the 1960s. Prints are created by putting objects on the glass, or platen, of a photocopier and by pressing "start" to produce an image. If the object is not flat, or the cover does not totally cover the object, or the object is moved, the resulting image is distorted in some way. The curvature of the object, the amount of light that reaches the image surface, and the distance of the cover from the glass, all affect the final image. Often, with proper manipulation, rather ghostly images can be made. Basic techniques include: Direct Imaging, the copying of items placed on the platen ; Still Life Collage, a variation of direct imaging with items placed on the platen in a collage format focused on what is in the foreground/background; Overprinting, the technique of constructing layers of information, one over the previous, by printing onto the same sheet of paper more than once; Copy Overlay, a technique of working with or interfering in the color separation mechanism of a color copier; Colorizing, vary color density and hue by adjusting the exposure and color balance controls; Degeneration is a copy of a copy degrading the image as successive copies are made; Copy Motion, the creation of effects by moving an item or image on the platen during the scanning process. Each machine also creates different effects.
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A photocopier is a machine that makes copies of documents and other visual images onto paper or plastic film quickly and cheaply. Most modern photocopiers use a technology called xerography, a dry process that uses electrostatic charges on a light-sensitive photoreceptor to first attract and then transfer toner particles onto paper in the form of an image. The toner is then fused onto the paper using heat, pressure, or a combination of both. Copiers can also use other technologies, such as inkjet, but xerography is standard for office copying.
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