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Non-Fiction (2023)

Castle Fine Art released the six mixed-media silkscreen prints of James McQueen's 'Non-Fiction (2023)' in February and May 2023. A pair of titles came first and four more followed three months later, including 'Stupid Crazy Love', with a set available from each release.

All Non-Fiction (2023) Works By James McQueen (14)

Significance & Analysis

The 2023 releases are where McQueen began to change the look of 'Non-Fiction', bringing in new motifs and a much bigger format alongside new titles.

February: It Is What It Is

The fourth release, on 3 February 2023, paired 'It Is What It Is' with 'No Risk, No Story' and brought spots into the design, a nod to Damien Hirst's Spot Paintings. McQueen makes no secret of what he borrows and endorses Picasso's line that "great artists steal". The two prints were also far larger than any of the 2022 editions, and McQueen reported that 'No Risk, No Story' sold out in half a day.

The release was timed with 'It Is What It Is', an exhibition of his originals at Castle Fine Art's Mailbox gallery in Birmingham from 3 to 19 February 2023. It was his first major solo show outside London, and it moved to Castle's Manchester gallery for the second half of March.

May: four more titles

On 4 May, Castle released four more titles at the size of the earlier prints. McQueen's own gloss on 'Me Neither' is to forge your own path and ignore "negative opinions you never really asked for anyway".

What came next

Later releases took his titles into new formats. In September 2023 'Anthology' set some of his most popular titles side by side as book spines, and in 2024 the lenticular prints of 'Volume' reworked his best-loved images so that each shows two pictures in one. The releases that came before this series are gathered in 'Non-Fiction (2022)'.

Which Prints Are in the Non-Fiction (2023) Sets?

The February set of two pairs 'It Is What It Is' with 'No Risk, No Story', framed, and an hors commerce version of the set, made outside the main edition, exists in an edition of 7. The May set of four holds 'It's All Shits and Giggles Until Someone Giggles and Shits', 'Me Neither', 'Overthink This' and 'Stupid Crazy Love', framed or unframed. The 2022 releases also had a set of four with different titles, so check the titles in a set before buying.

What Edition Sizes and Formats Do the Non-Fiction (2023) Prints Come In?

Every print and both main sets were issued in editions of 195, with artist's proofs and printer's proofs alongside. The February pair are large sheets of 150 x 99 cm. The May four measure 101.6 x 67.3 cm on deckle-edged paper and were sold framed at 112.5 x 78.5 cm. All six are mixed media, archival pigment and silkscreen on 410gsm Somerset Satin paper, and a framed copy counts within the same edition of 195 as an unframed one.

Is a Non-Fiction (2023) Print the Same as McQueen's Painting of That Title?

No. McQueen paints his titles as unique canvases and often returns to the same title more than once. 'No Risk, No Story' appeared on canvas several times in 2022 and 2023, including a 60 x 40 in painting he posted in October 2022 with the note that a print was coming soon. A print may not match every painting that shares its title. At the time of release, his originals were sold through Halcyon Gallery and his prints through Castle Fine Art.