Artwork
The Bite of the Print
The Bite of the Print is a print by Artemio Rodriguez. It dates from 2007 and is held in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum.
About this work
Artemio Rodriguez’s *The Bite of the Print* is a 2007 print held at the Victoria and Albert Museum.
Artemio Rodriguez’s *The Bite of the Print* is a 2007 print held at the Victoria and Albert Museum. Printmaking was his family trade—he learned it young from a master in Mexico City.
His style mixes old and new. Bold shapes and sharp lines come straight from medieval woodcuts. He borrows playful energy from old Mexican signs and posters too.
If you like his work, check out Jose Guadalupe Posada next.
Overview
Artemio Rodriguez’s 2007 work *The Bite of the Print* is a black‑and‑white print in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum. Created by an artist who grew up in the Mexican town of Tacámbaro, the piece reflects a lifelong engagement with letterpress techniques learned during an apprenticeship in Mexico City. The image combines formal composition with a whimsical visual language.
Subject & Meaning
The composition presents a stylised motif that recalls heraldic emblems, yet its exaggerated contours and playful details suggest a satirical take on the conventions of official signage. By juxtaposing solemnity with humor, Rodriguez invites viewers to consider the tension between authority and popular visual culture, a theme that recurs throughout his oeuvre.
Technique & Style
Rodriguez works primarily in monochrome, employing crisp, high‑contrast lines that echo the aesthetic of medieval European woodcuts. The print’s clean geometry and bold silhouettes are achieved through traditional letterpress processes, a craft he inherited from his early training with master printer Juan Pasco. Elements of Mexican folk poster art, especially the lively energy of early 20th‑century signage, are woven into the formal structure.
History & Provenance
Born in 1972 in Tacámbaro, Michoacán, Rodriguez entered the world of printmaking as a teenager, apprenticing under Pasco at the Taller Martín Pescador in Mexico City. *The Bite of the Print* was produced in 2007 and later acquired by the Victoria and Albert Museum, where it remains part of the museum’s print and drawing collection, illustrating the artist’s cross‑cultural influences.
Artist & collection
Artist
Artemio Rodriguez makes prints steeped in sharp lines and biting social themes. His 2007 woodcut The Bite of the Print shows a skeletal hand gripping a scroll that morphs into a snake—part visual pun, part protest.…
