Tantrika I and Tantrika II are two portfolios created by Karel Appel in collaboration with the Scottish poet Kenneth White, published in Paris in the 1980s by Éditions FB.
Each set comprises five original color lithographs and poetic texts by Kenneth White. The print run is limited to approximately 75 copies.
The title Tantrika refers to the idea of energy, the circulation of vital forces, and the connection between humankind, nature, and the cosmos. This vision aligns with the geopoetic thought of Kenneth White, who seeks to reconnect human beings to vast spaces, landscapes, and the fundamental rhythms of the world.
For Appel, this series marks a phase of maturity. The explosive energy inherited from Cobra remains present, but it is organized in more open compositions where birds, faces, hybrid creatures and organic forms float, bathed in intense colors.
The historical significance of these portfolios lies in the encounter between two major figures: Karel Appel, heir to Cobra, and Kenneth White, founder of geopoetics. Together, they produced a body of work where painting and poetry pursued the same objective: to translate the profound forces that permeate living beings.
For a collector, Tantrika I and II are among the most intellectually ambitious collaborations in Appel's graphic work. They occupy a more private place than his individual lithographs, but possess a particularly rich cultural and symbolic depth.
