Artspace and Phaidon are pleased to present Mount Atom, our first limited edition with contemporary artist William Monk. The new lithograph, which is limited to 50 signed and numbered prints, continues Monk’s investigation into metaphysical paintings. Each edition is encased in a custom portfolio, including a copy of Phaidon’s new publication, William Monk, the first comprehensive monograph on the artist’s work.
Mount Atom presents a surreal vision - a levitating coral form suspended over a textured, pyramid-like mound, bathed in a soft, atmospheric glow. Built up through seven layers of lithographic color, hand-drawn on lithographic limestone combined with hand-drawn photo plates, the work’s surface radiates with quiet intensity. The interplay of foreground, background, and textured repetition forms a visual mantra and exemplifies Monk’s ability to create compositions that feel both timeless and otherworldly.
“The figuration happens in your mind's eye. And so, I hope that the scale is always human, relative to the person looking at the paintings, and makes the person become almost as aware of themselves as they are of the painting, and certainly as aware of the space, so they're not just thinking about an image” - William Monk
Monk is a British-born, New York-based artist whose psychological and often large-scale paintings are held in prestigious public and private collections worldwide. Known for working in series, Monk’s practice explores the emotional terrain of lived experience, dreams, and memory. Mount Atom offers collectors a rare opportunity to engage with these themes on a more intimate scale. Taken together, the Phaidon catalogue and print provide an unprecedented look at Monk’s oeuvre.
