Born in 1927 in Hoboken, New Jersey, Joseph Demarais gained notoriety for his three-dimensional and color intaglio printmaking. During his seven-year career, he created several hundred prints and made over 800 plates from his "intaglio-relief" method. He combined the two processes of intaglio and relief printing and incorporated acetate, copper, Masonite, and zinc to achieve fossil-like, bas relief textures on his surfaces. Using earth tones to paint simplistic forms of people, windows, and doors, Demarais portrayed the struggles and hardships faced by migrants to America. Demarais taught art for two years at Teachers College, Columbia University in New York and then printmaking in 1965 at Trenton State College in New Jersey.
Collections of his works can be found in museums worldwide, including the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C., the Brooklyn Museum, the Yale Art Museum; and the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, England.
This piece is a pencil signed artist's proof in very good condition. Presented in a wood frame with brown matte. A contemporary printed copy of Demarais' biography is attached to the reverse of the piece.
Image is 19" x 4.5" and the frame is 11" x 26.5" x 0.75"
