Matt Saunders | Birkin Rosso

Discover Matt Saunders’ latest series of prints in our showroom, blending photogravure and woodcut techniques.

Birkin Rosso, 2025 comprises a sequence of thirteen interconnected prints. Individually, the prints are enigmatic, self-contained mysteries, but when viewed together, they inform and enrich each other. By repeating and yet varying the same subject, Saunders emphasises how still and moving images are linked; their seriality enhances the cinematic impression when viewed one after the other.

The predominant motif of the series is inspired by actress Jane Birkin (1946-2023) and her role in the 1976 film Je t’aime moi non plus. Birkin’s character, the androgynous waitress Johnny, has featured in several of Saunders’ previous works and continues to be a source of inspiration for him.

When Saunders began the series, he was eager to experiment and push the boundaries of traditional printmaking techniques. The series evolved through variations of the same elements, echoing the work of sculptor Medardo Rosso (1858-1928), who is another key source of inspiration in Saunders’ work. Rosso’s sculptures are characterised by the same ambiguity of matter and space found in Saunders’ prints. The faces portrayed in Rosso’s work seem to appear and disappear simultaneously, highlighting that visual experience is an active negotiation, where the viewer does not passively receive the work of art, but is instead an active co-determining participant in what is visible. Much of Rosso’s practice involved photography at various stages of his creative process. His obsession with light, as one of his main materials, meant he often photographed and rephotographed his sculptures in different modes. Working with the same subject matter across multiple media was a radical approach at the time and has continued to fascinate and inspire Saunders.

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