Pejac SELF-DEFENCE: twelve hours, 24 hand-finished editions

Pejac’s SELF-DEFENCE turns an icebreaker’s circular journey into twelve separate images, each offered as a main edition of 25 and a special edition of three. Released with Avant Arte through four February 2026 draw windows, the project translates twelve original paintings into hand-finished screenprints. The publisher now marks the individual works sold out. The hourly subjects and the two finishing treatments are the useful starting points for comparing the 24 editions. Official release

Twelve moments, two treatments

The ship moves counterclockwise around its channel through the ice. Avant Arte describes this as a countdown and connects the work to Pejac’s concern with nature’s resilience under human intervention. The circular composition makes the hour more than a label: choosing a print means choosing a position within a sequence rather than simply a different colour of the same image. Viewed together, the subjects turn the ship’s apparent progress into a repeated return along an enclosing path. That tension between movement and confinement is a reading of the composition, not an additional account of the artist’s intentions. Pejac’s edition archive

Both treatments use a 28-colour silkscreen made by Make-Ready, Avant Arte’s London print studio, on 410 gsm Somerset Tub Sized Radiant White paper. Pejac adds the bow’s beam of light by hand with spray and stencil in his Madrid studio. The main edition is therefore already hand-finished; “special” does not distinguish a worked-on print from an untouched reproduction. It identifies additional luminescent treatment and a different edition denominator. Each sheet measures 80 × 57 cm, before framing. Main edition specification

The special editions add a glow-in-the-dark aurora above the boat. Number 1/3 of each hourly edition also contains a hand-finished submerged ship. This is an important distinction within the edition of three: an image of number 1/3 should not be taken as a promise that numbers 2/3 and 3/3 have the same extra vessel. The special-edition images below show the publisher’s representative number 1/3; the hour, finishing treatment and individual number all matter when identifying a particular copy. Special edition specification

How the February draws worked

The published timetable grouped three hourly subjects into each 24-hour window, with main and special versions offered together:

• 2 February, noon to 3 February, noon: 12 pm, 11 am and 10 am
• 3 February, noon to 4 February, noon: 9 am, 8 am and 7 am
• 4 February, noon to 5 February, noon: 6 am, 5 am and 4 am
• 5 February, noon to 6 February, noon: 3 am, 2 am and 1 am

All times were UK time. Collectors could enter for one or more editions; successful applicants were charged and emailed when their window closed. The campaign’s specific opening-and-closing timetable is more useful than treating the closing day as the start of a conventional shop sale. A draw allocation also should not be confused with the total edition size: the product details identify five main prints and one special print for the draw, while the editions remain 25 and three respectively. These February windows have ended. Draw timetable

The three-print set is an ordering option

Avant Arte also offered selected sets of three main-edition prints by pre-order. Those sheets come from the existing editions of 25, rather than an additional edition of a triptych. The release page and set description consistently say three prints; one medium line on the set listing instead says “2 x”. That inconsistency should be clarified against a particular set’s documentation, rather than used to redefine the bundle or the individual editions. No fixed combination of hours is established for every set. Main-edition set

The checked archive displays €3,000 on main product pages, €6,000 for special editions and €9,000 for the set. These are displayed archive prices, not independently verified original issue prices or a present offer to buy. The 1 am main listing also contains conflicting price data and special-edition wording; its title, edition details and the studio’s family description identify the main edition of 25, but its disputed price and copied finishing description are not reliable guides. 1 am main listing

For comparing examples, the edition number answers a different question from the hour. An 8 am main print and an 8 am special print share a moment in the cycle but differ materially; an 8 am and a 9 am main print share the production format but occupy different positions in the sequence. Keeping those two distinctions together makes the family legible without treating framing choices, the three-print order or the hand-finishing of one numbered copy as new print editions.