COMEUNDONE

[New York]: Pooté Press, 1989. Limited Edition. Stiff Boards. Fine in Fine Metal Box. Limited Edition. Stiff Boards. "Henrik Drescher, born 1955, is known mainly as a commercial illustrator, working for Rolling Stone, Time, etc., and an illustrator of children's books, Simon's Book and McFig and McFly. However, throughout his career he has, and continues to, produce an immense body of work spanning painting, printmaking, book works and installation works. He describes his work as a "junkyard of the imagination." In particular his artist book Comeundone: being a complete and reliable descriptive collection of the perilous explorations and also important discoveries made in the wildest territories upon the face of the earth, encountering savage men, ferocious beasts, poisonous reptiles etc. etc. Et al. Covering period of twelve months 1988-1989 stands out as a prime example of Drescher's often cryptic, loose line drawings with text and photographic elements that emanate from his unconscious imagination.
Comeundone was letterpress printed on handmade paper by the Poote Press in 1989 and utilized pulp painting to create the colorful forms that spill out from the black line drawings. This non-typical book was constructed as a stubby cruciform and is encased within a metal tin, evoking the feeling of opening a time capsule or a long lost 1950's era tin. The pages within vary from simple, light pages, such as a face surrounded by what appear to be tents, to pages seemingly neurotically covered with text or drawings, and to simple, dark pages depicting vortices, piles and skulls. I am particularly drawn to the conical piles used as they take on a representation of a being or a body. Drescher even labels one of such piles "body" and another "visceral." These piles present themselves as bodily masses or bodies without structure. These two cone piles are also interesting, as Drescher has removed the visceral organs from the body and placed them into separate piles, effectively separating the body from its automatic inner workings. Throughout the book many of these signs and symbols repeat to create a strong sense of bodily experience, through their reference to the body and by creating a vortex or hole one could slip into and arrive within the mind of Drescher.
Along with symbols whose meaning is created within Drescher, text makes up a large portion of Comeundone. Many of the pages are littered with what appear to be automatic writings, saying things like: murder burgers, mad dogs, barefoot pilgrems, vey dovey. Within these pages Drescher appears to be constructing an almost sketchbook like quality through these freely associated words strewn across the surface, without making logical connections to the images and the surrounding texts. However, he does provide more complete, although still freely associated sentences such as, "Fuck me dead dog" and "I hope that I will never die." These thoughts along with the more automatic writings outline the random thoughts that creep up from within one's unconscious mind.
Drescher also grapples with issues of religion and the seven deadly sins. He scattered the seven sins throughout the book, and these appear to be Drescher's conscience creeping up to remind him the difference between right and wrong. One page depicts two hands clasped together in prayer. These hands are surrounded by a multitude of the word pray written over and over, showing an almost neurotic need to pray or feeling that one should be praying. However, on a following page the word pay falls directly above pray, showing Drescher's questions of religion.
At first glance Comeundone appears to be neither a complete or reliable description of any event, as the title implies it would be. However, upon closer inspection this book appears as a collection of fleeting illogical thoughts translated into images. Henrik Drescher's Comeundone creates a complete and reliable collection of lush landscapes of experience that is the interior of one's mind." [exhibition description]
Increasingly scarce and having grown in stature and importance, we are pleased to be presenting this pristine copy. Printed and bound in the form of the Swiss cross (6 x 6"; 155mm x 155mm). Open-sewn between water-colored boards with pictorial onlay on upper boards. Illustrated throughout. Very fine, enclosed within a similarly shaped sheet metal case, with manuscript label and postage stamp affixed to lid. First edition. One of 100 numbered copies printed letterpress from line engravings onto stenciled handmade paper by Ruth Lingen, signed by the artist. Subtitled in printed facsimile of the artist's holograph: "Being a Complete and Reliable Descriptive Collection of the Perilous Explorations and also Important Discoveries made in the Wildest Territories upon The Face of the Earth Encountering Savage men, Ferocious Beast[s], and Poisonous Reptiles ... Covering a Period of Twelve Months 1988 - 1989." An aggressive and occasionally discomfiting collection of images by the award-winning Norwegian-born illustrator. Numbered limited edition, this being 8 of 100.