Jonny Hannah – Sweetheart of the Rodeo – Signed Limited Edition Screenprint 31/50 – Cakes & Ale Press – 2003

Description

A particularly appealing early original screenprint by Jonny Hannah, entitled Sweetheart of the Rodeo, dating from 2003.

The work measures 38 × 56 cm and was issued in a limited edition of only 50 impressions. This example is number 31/50 and is signed by Jonny Hannah in pencil, with the edition number and Cakes & Ale Press imprint incorporated into the right-hand margin.

Printed in a deliberately restricted palette of warm red and pale blue-grey, the composition combines Hannah’s characteristic hand lettering with imagery drawn from the visual world of country music, rodeo graphics, American popular culture and old educational or commercial ephemera.

At the centre is a dramatically enlarged cowboy boot, surrounded by a hand-rendered alphabet. To the right runs the vertically arranged title:

SWEETHEART OF THE RODEO

while the lower section incorporates a sharply dressed, hat-wearing figure and the wonderfully Hannah-esque instruction:

“WHY NOT TAKE THIS HERE PROPER WRITING AND MAKE YOUR OWN SMARTALECKY WORDS.”

The image is simultaneously playful, musical and typographic, with the alphabet transformed from an educational device into part of a surreal piece of country-and-western graphic design.

Sweetheart of the Rodeo

The title has an important musical resonance.

Sweetheart of the Rodeo is the title of The Byrds’ landmark 1968 album, a record closely associated with the emergence of country rock and with the brief but highly influential involvement of Gram Parsons in the group.

Hannah’s print should not be treated as a reproduction of that album sleeve. Instead, the title provides a cultural point of departure for an image saturated with the broader visual vocabulary of American country music: cowboy clothing, western typography, show-business graphics and the slightly theatrical mythology of the rodeo.

This combination is particularly characteristic of Hannah, whose work frequently approaches music through its surrounding culture — records, clothes, signs, lettering and remembered imagery — rather than straightforward musician portraiture.

Typography and the Alphabet

One of the strongest features of the print is Hannah’s treatment of the alphabet.

Large, individually drawn lower-case letters are scattered across the field rather than organised into a conventional educational chart. Each has its own slight variations of shape, line and internal decoration.

This transforms something familiar and instructional into something visually unruly.

The humorous phrase at the bottom — inviting the viewer to use the “proper writing” to make their own “smartalecky words” — further undermines the seriousness of the alphabet and turns the print into a playful commentary on lettering itself.

Typography is not simply used to communicate information here: lettering is one of the principal subjects of the artwork.

Country Music and Vernacular America

The enormous cowboy boot, the rodeo title, the hat-wearing figure and star-decorated display lettering all evoke the graphic culture surrounding American country and western music.

Hannah’s approach is deliberately indirect. The print resembles something found between an old songbook, mail-order catalogue, western poster and children’s alphabet sheet.

That mixture of sources is central to his visual language. Hannah repeatedly finds value in forms of graphic design that were originally ephemeral — shop signs, record sleeves, labels, advertising and cheaply printed popular material — and reworks their character through contemporary artist printmaking.

An Early Jonny Hannah Screenprint

The 2003 date is an important feature of the work.

It places Sweetheart of the Rodeo relatively early within Hannah’s independent printmaking output, while many of the characteristics now strongly associated with his work are already fully established: music, hand lettering, Americana, humour and vernacular graphic culture.

The edition was restricted to just 50 impressions, making this a genuinely small artist’s edition.

Screenprint Technique

This is an original screenprint, not a later photographic or digital reproduction.

The limited red and pale blue-grey palette gives the image considerable graphic strength, while the screenprinting process preserves the irregularities of Hannah’s hand-drawn line.

Areas of broken ink, uneven outline and slight variation in printed density are characteristic of the handmade process and contribute to the deliberately tactile, ephemera-like quality of the work.

Cakes & Ale Press

The right-hand margin carries the Cakes & Ale Press identification alongside Hannah’s pencil signature and edition numbering.

Cakes & Ale Press is Hannah’s own publishing and printmaking imprint, closely associated with his independently produced artist’s prints and printed ephemera.

Its presence provides an important direct connection with Hannah’s own printmaking practice.

Edition

This example is:

31/50

from an edition of only 50 impressions.

The combination of the 2003 date, small edition, signed status, music-related subject and strong typography makes it an especially attractive early Hannah screenprint.

Condition

Very good to excellent condition overall.

The red and pale blue-grey printing remains strong and evenly balanced, with very good definition throughout the composition.

Only minor natural handling and paper irregularity are visible. Small variations in printed texture and ink coverage are consistent with the original screenprinting process rather than subsequent damage.

The pencil signature and edition number 31/50 remain clearly visible.

Please study the photographs carefully as they form an integral part of the description.

Artist: Jonny Hannah
Title: Sweetheart of the Rodeo
Date: 2003
Medium: Original colour screenprint
Edition: 31/50
Edition size: 50
Signed: Yes, in pencil
Size: 38 × 56 cm
Imprint: Cakes & Ale Press
Subjects: Country music, Americana, typography
Format: Original limited-edition artist’s screenprint
Unframed: Yes
Modern reproduction: No

Authenticity

This work has been handled, inspected and catalogued in-house at Hornseys before being offered for sale.

The pencil signature, edition number 31/50 and Cakes & Ale Press identification are present on the sheet.

It is an original signed and numbered Jonny Hannah screenprint from an edition of 50, not a later reproduction.

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EXPLORE OUR JONNY HANNAH COLLECTION

Explore our evolving collection of Jonny Hannah original paintings, signed and limited-edition prints, illustrated books and related artworks. His distinctive imagery, hand lettering and narrative style draw upon music, maritime culture, vintage advertising, folk art, popular entertainment and the visual character of British towns and seaside communities.

Whether you are an established collector, an admirer of contemporary British illustration or searching for an unusual and memorable gift, our collection offers the opportunity to acquire carefully selected examples of Jonny Hannah’s work.

Established in 1976 and based in Ripon, North Yorkshire, Hornseys is an independent gallery and bookseller specialising in original art, prints, design, collectable books and historic material. Every item is handled, inspected and catalogued in-house at our Ripon gallery.