Printed Matter, the first book on Martens which is by now out of print, presents Karel Martens as a designer responding to various public commissions. Karel Martens: Counterprint, a short object book looks the other direction, and extensively presents Karel Martens’ uncommissioned work and printing experiments. Included is an essay ‘The world as a printing surface’ by Paul Elliman, another designer taking inspiration from object trouvé. Since the 1970s Karel Martens made prints from Meccano, metal plates, and other found objects. These prints were made in very small numbers or were one-offs.
This publication originated as the twenty-seventh in a series of 'documentaries' launched by the Eindhoven- based printing firm Lecturis. The Lecturis series, under editorship of Wim Crouwel, have been publishing distinguished books on a variety of topics in art and design since 1974.
