By: David Avery

Medium: Etching
Year: 2016
Edition Size: 20
ImageSize: 12.75 x 6.25 inches

Avery frequently blends mythology, literary reference, and historical imagery, and here he draws inspiration from Alfred Jarry’s The Exploits and Opinions of Dr. Faustroll, Pataphysician. The invented term “Mour-de-Zencle,” rooted in archaic French, has been interpreted as a metaphor for modern capitalism—its wake described by Jarry as the desert of “Commonly Accepted Ideas,” a place devoid of imagination.

The print features Avery’s signature density of detail, shifting from sky to ship to turbulent depths in a seamless vertical narrative. This work is a superb example of the artist’s commitment to black-and-white etching as a complete expressive language.