French Revolutionary Calendar Series (1989)
In 1989, Yolanda del Riego created a series of monoprints inspired by the 200th anniversary of the beginning of the French Revolution and the first wave of feminism in France. The works were named after the calendar months of the French Revolutionary Calendar: Vendémiaire, Brumaire, etc. They were first exhibited at a solo exhibition at the Maria Salvat Gallery in Barcelona titled Yolanda del Riego y sus métodos calcográficos.
Yolanda del Riego has been so passionate about the etching press, with the possibilities of using plates and acids, that the works she creates have nothing to do with graphic work, with multiples. In fact, she has gone a step beyond than her teacher Misch Kohn, who established the concept of an "evolving edition" as editions in which the print is evolving.
One step beyond because she uses the etching press not as an instrument of seriation, but, most of the time, as an instrument of realization, that is, she uses the etching press as if it were a brush. And the works that the artist creates, with some exceptions, are unique (and have nothing to do with those once frequent monotypes). Yolanda del Riego has managed to deny the printing process with her own work and to make the technique the creative process itself. Her works have that appeal and allure that are so characteristic of unique works.
—Francesc Miralles. "Yolanda del Riego. Tórculo sobre pincel". (1989, Oct 20). La Vanguardia, (pg.11) [English translation]
