Xilos Antiquas is a series of engravings made on palo blanco wood, carved entirely with the burin, that seeks to recreate the spirit and materiality of the European woodcuts of the 15th and 16th centuries. The project does not aim to copy specific works, but to reconstruct the way those first printers and engravers understood the image, the line and visual narrative.

The series is conceived in book format, in direct dialogue with the very origin of woodcut, deeply tied to the printing press and to the circulation of visual knowledge. Each copy is printed on paper handmade by the artist, taking care of texture, weight and absorbency to come close to the old supports.

The pieces refer to emblematic sources: Schedel's Nuremberg Chronicle, especially the musicians by Wolgemut; the visionary images of the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili by Aldus Manutius; the celebrated Dürer Rhinoceros; and Holbein's Dance of Death, engraved by Hans Lützelburger.

Although the use of the burin on wood was not yet fully developed in those centuries, the series explores that technical crossover as a way of reinterpreting early engraving from a contemporary standpoint. In upcoming copies, the research will extend to woodcuts of the 18th and 19th centuries, periods in which the burin reached greater refinement within the technique.

Each copy can be purchased for USD 60, or ARS 65,000 in Argentina
[ Buy in Argentina with no shipping costs ]. For advice, write to info@marcelokopp.com