![Billy Apple®, Portrait of the Artist in a Drip-dry Suit (Purple), 1962-64](https://artlogic-res.cloudinary.com/w_1600,h_1600,c_limit,f_auto,fl_lossy,q_auto/artlogicstorage/mayorgallery/images/view/8cc7b2fad0e273c5a0ba3f38f30a54e6/themayorgallery-billy-apple-portrait-of-the-artist-in-a-drip-dry-suit-purple-1962-64.jpg)
Billy Apple® New Zealand, 1935-2021
7 1/2 x 11 x 7/8 inches
At this time, Xerography was an experimental reproductive technology being developed for industrial purposes like the aviation industry to transfer patterns onto steel. Billy Apple used a tiny prototype.
He printed directly (same scale) from a photograph or image, trialling different backgrounds – hand painted canvas (purple and red) and shirt fabrics (cotton, silk, acrylic). Each one is different because of variations in the results of the four step process as well as their backgrounds. On this basis they are considered as individual experimental works.