ABC Stampede

Each monoprint in the ‘ABC Stampede’ series is a unique piece, made by printing an irreproducible hand-painted color layer on a lithographic limited edition of 26. The print features each letter of the alphabet represented with a distinct personality, a complex evolution of an earlier onomatopoeic “Alphabet” print and recording. It also bears one of Coit’s short fictional compositions, the text of which can be found after the images below.

“A wordsmith if there ever was one, Coit treats language—letters, words, phrases, sentences, and paragraphs—as yet another medium, one that she can apply to materials ranging from printmaking and painting to published and performed poetry and prose. Linguistic units become her building blocks for powerful literary edifices…Coit’s phrases playfully but emphatically cut to the core, reminding us to pay attention to what we read and write, speak and hear.” - Jennie Hirsh, from “Before and After Language: The Art of Madelin Coit”

The text reads:

The wind whistled

softly as it navigated

the curves of my ears.

Its melody changed as I

tipped my head. I danced

along the river bed tuning

the wind in my ears.

It hadn’t rained in months.

Exposed roots hung against

sheer walls. A cow eyed me

from the high bank above.

Not particularly interested,

she turned away. There

were birds darting in and

out of holes in the banks,

a veritable Riviera co-op.

A low rustle insinuated

itself beneath the whistle.

I tensed and looked back. It

was a herd of leaves, tum-

bling before the wind. I turn-

ed and ran, laughing, high-

kneed, ahead of the

stampeding leaves.