Artist’s ‘Face of Canada’ EFI VUTEk-printed Textile Work Installed at Royal Ontario Museum

The Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) in Toronto, Canada recently installed “FACE OF CANADA,” the Canada 150 Commemorative Edition, by Robert Young. This special textile artwork from his ”YOUNG WORLD FACES” collection was produced in Electronics For Imaging’s Meredith, N.H., inkjet technology facility using an EFI VUTEk FabriVU soft signage printer. The photograph, which features a Canadian citizen with the Nation’s flag painted on her face, was displayed last month in the ROM’s Hyacinth Gloria Chen Crystal Court as part of the museum’s Canada 150 festival programs.
 
The 14-foot tall by 10-foot wide portrait shows the vivid detail of Young’s photography, while featuring the striking color of Canada’s very recognizable flag. The artwork, which was produced using EFI aqueous dye sublimation inks, reflects many of the artistic themes and motivations that drive Young’s imagery.
 
“I’m a storyteller who uses literature, photography and film to create imagery that inspires and motivates people,” said Young. “I wanted to create a human experience with this print, especially on Canada’s 150th year as a nation.”
 
Previously produced on EFI soft signage printers for the Pan American Games in Toronto in 2015, this new print is one of more than 40 large-scale images in the “YOUNG WORLD FACES” collection. The spirit of that exhibition continues with the ROM installation, according to Young.
 
“When the installation went in, I was working on a project in Anguilla, and I’m a Canadian American with Jamaican roots, working with EFI, an American company with Italian textile printing technology that has printed this beautiful work that was originally captured in Canada,” said Young. “And then the work went back to Canada for display in one of Canada’s greatest museums. It’s a great example of how ‘YOUNG WORLD FACES’ brings the world together.”
 
EFI printed the one-off installation, a unique special edition that is the only “YOUNG WORLD FACES” print produced with a white background instead of black, direct-to-substrate on A. Berger Lighttex, a single-sided polyester textile for backlit applications.
 
The 3.4-meter wide VUTEk FabriVU 340 printer used for the installed art piece prints in four colors in resolutions up 2,400 dpi, delivering deep color saturation for exceptional fabric display graphics. The production-class printer features technology from EFI Reggiani, the Italian innovation leader with 70 years’ worth of experience in advanced textile imaging.
 
In 2015, Mississauga, Ontario, textile graphics specialist McRae Imaging used the first EFI Reggiani printer installed in North America to produce the original “YOUNG WORLD FACES” as a textile series, consisting of 41 faces, each painted with professional makeup featuring the flag of a country that participated in the 2015 Pan American Games. The colorful FACES images of those 7-foot tall prints pop against black backgrounds. Robert Young’s acclaimed collection, which has had several exhibitions, was named the soft signage project of the year by Sign Media Canada in 2016.
 
The EFI VUTEk FabriVU 340 soft signage printer will be showcased next month in EFI’s exhibit at the 2017 SGIA Expo, Oct. 10-14 in New Orleans.
 
During and immediately after the ROM exhibition, Young was working on a photography project in British Caribbean territory of Anguilla, where he was caught in the devastation of Hurricane Irma. After safely evacuating to Miami, he is currently developing materials for an awareness campaign to help raise funds for relief and rebuilding efforts among the Caribbean islands affected by the storm. Visit http://www.raconteurseven.com for more information on the campaign.




Photos courtesy raconteurseven.com/panamericangame; EFI