Mura V 1978

Keith Achepohl created this etching, Mura V, using a printmaking press, paper, and etching ink. The print offers us an architectural space, but is it a building, a tomb, or an abstract construction? The title 'Mura' implies the image may be of a wall but of what kind? Is it a fortification to keep people out, or to keep them in? This image was made during the cold war era, which was an era of building walls, both literally, like the Berlin wall, and metaphorically, as a political strategy. Achepohl was trained at the school of the Art Institute of Chicago. Institutions of education like this are a key part of the history of art. The artist's training and intellectual environment would have influenced the meaning and aesthetics of his work. To understand this print more deeply, we could examine Achepohl's wider oeuvre and delve into the social and political contexts of his life. Such historical enquiry might enable a deeper reading of the image.