Alberta Whittle

Secreting Myths (golden yellow)

About this artwork

In this print, Alberta Whittle has transformed an historic engraving by Jan van der Straet (1523–1605). The engraving visualised for European audiences the arrival of Amerigo Vespucci (1454–1512) in the ‘New World’ in 1497. Whittle’s title Secreting Myths alludes to the distorting mythology of such representations, as well as her organic intervention with a snail trail printed in gold ink. This secretion is positioned to obscure Vespucci’s features and his colonising male gaze. Whittle’s chosen colours of golden yellow ink against a solid background of brick red evoke memories from her Barbadian childhood. This multi-layered story in print combines different types of imagery to produce lushly colourful and embossed surfaces containing both beauty and violence.

Updated 2021

see media
  • artist:
    Alberta Whittle (born 1980)
  • title:
    Secreting Myths (golden yellow)
  • date created:
    2019
  • materials:
    Laser-engraved woodblock print on paper
  • measurements:
    56.00 x 76.00 cm
  • object type:
  • credit line:
    Purchased 2021
  • accession number:
    GMA 5732
  • gallery:
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Alberta Whittle

Alberta Whittle