2012 – 2015 exhibitions
2015
Scale
Arc Gallery and Studios
August 1–22, 2015
Presented by Arc Gallery and Studios in association with The California Society of Printmakers. This exhibition seeks to explore the concept of “scale” in printmaking. How is work scaled? The approaches in this exhibition are varied. Some of the artists undertook the technical challenges of printing larger works directly. For others, scaling the works is achieved by printing in multiples and/or assembling pieces. Curated by Jenny Robinson, the exhibition features work by Susan Belau, Ellen Heck, Karen Kunc, Eileen Macdonald, Michelle Murillo, Jennifer Tancreto, and Tracy Templeton.
“SCALE” noun: (a) the ratio between the size of something real and that of a model or representation of it; (b) a succession or progression of steps or degrees; a graduated series
The 21st century has seen a huge change in the art world’s perception of printmaking as an art form in its own right. The boundaries between painting and sculpture have become blurred and prints now often combine elements of both to create unique “one off” impressions. Printmaking societies have also evolved, albeit more slowly; but now, adherence to the strict guidelines of acceptable techniques, common even a decade ago, are no longer the standard of judgment.
The technical challenge of producing large printmaking works increases exponentially as the size of the works increase. Printmakers, whist often limited by the size of presses and equipment have always been a tenacious tribe of problem solvers. Experimentation and a willingness to work outside the perceived boundaries in order to get the desired results is often part of our daily experience in the studio and what we live for. Give us a technical problem and we will solve it.
Monumental prints have actually been around for centuries. The 16th century master-printer, Albert Durer, created a massive woodcut, carving nearly 200 separate images, printed onto multiple sheets of paper. When pasted together “The Triumphal Arch of Maximilian I” was over 11 feet high. So, Scale is not exactly non-traditional. It is, however, challenging and unexpected.
As curator for this exhibition, I drew from the wide and diverse membership of the Californian Society of Printmakers. I approached not only artists who were already working on a large scale, but also artists who were interested in pushing themselves and their work to create something especially for the exhibition. All of these artists encapsulate the contemporary view that printmaking is equal in concept, size and importance to any other art form. Hopefully this exhibition helps to extend the boundaries of “print” both literally and conceptually. ~ Jenny Robinson
Bottom row, left to right: Joanna Kidd, Toru Sugita, Carrie Ann Plank
The Printers Series: 2015 Artist in Residence Exhibition
Gruenwald Press
March 28–April 11
The California Society of Printmakers present a season of short residencies for current CSP members that have taken place over 2014-2015. Selections were made by featured Master Printmakers from around the Bay Area and each residency received a stipend to facilitate a Print-based project focused in the area of specialty of the Master Printmaker. In collaboration, Gruenwald Press proudly presents the culmination of this project with a day of artist talks and an exhibition of all newly finished works.
Prints: CA, LA and Beyond Part II
Gray Loft Gallery
February 13–28, 2015
Juror: Michelle Murillo, Co-Chair printmaking program California College of the Arts
Selected Artists: Nora Akino, Andis Applewhite, Arturo Araujo, Cynthia Back, Peter Baczek, Jonathan Barcan, Betsy Barnum, Sandra Beard, Sherry Bell, Joan Dix Blair, Cathy Jean Clark, James Claussen, Ann Conner, Briar Craig, Eduardo Fausti, Beth Fein, Barbara Foster, Rebecca Foster, Rosemarie Gebhart, Olga Gerdjikov, Yeung Ha, Nif Hodgson, Susan Howe, Debra Jewell, Holly Jordan, April Katz, Joanna Kidd, Pam Landram, Dixie Laws, Cynthia Milionis, Hj Mooij, Gustavo Mora Perez, Barbara Murray, Kelly Nelson, Carrie Ann Plank, Laurel Prieto, Fernando Reyes, Amanda Rouse, Roxanne Sexauer, Katherine Sheehan, Robynn Smith, Maryly Snow, Herlinde Spahr, Toru Sugita, Susan Trubow, Frances Valesco, Katherine Venturelli, Sylvia Solochek Walters, Mimi Williams, and Linda Yoshizawa.
101st Annual Members Show
Gray Loft Gallery
January 9–February 7, 2015
“The show consists of mostly recent works by members, who are admitted to the [California Society of Printmakers] after an extensive review of their portfolio. The society itself was launched in 1912, in anticipation of the great Panama-Pacific International Exposition, and has fostered generation after generation of influential printmakers.” From 101 Ink: California Society of Printmakers celebrates a century with new show in 48hills.
2014
RE/APPROPRIATE
Market Street Gallery
March 1–April 4, 2014
Juror: Colleen Terry, Assistant Curator of the Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.
RE/APPROPRIATE is a juried exhibition of work by members of the California Society of Printmakers in conjunction with the SGCI 2014 International Conference, Bridges.
2013
100 Years in Print
San Francisco Center for the Book
November 4–7, 2013
In conjunction with the California Society of Printmakers Centennial Celebration the San Francisco Center for the Book hosts 100 Years in Print. The exhibition highlights CSP members working with the diverse forms of printmaking and the tools used to create them. Hybrid prints will demonstrate ways CSP artists are pushing the boundaries of printmaking.
The exhibition features work that pushes the boundaries of the print medium as well as small, unframed prints displaying traditional media, such as hard and soft ground etching, aquatint, spit bite, lithography, wood cut, linoleum cut, silkscreen, photogravure, monotype, and letterpress. These prints are displayed in vitrines together with the tools used to create them.
Text, Language, & Numerals
A Sampling of work from the California Society of Printmakers
Sacramento State University Union Gallery
September 3–26, 2013
Text, Language, and Numerals focuses on the narrative and the way printmaking artists use text, language, and numerals to communicate with an audience. The exhibition includes bookarts, letterpress, and prints with a direct narrative.
100 Years of Printmaking
Harrington Gallery, Firehouse Arts Center
July 20–September 4, 2013
Curator: Julie Finnegan, Director of the Harrington Gallery.
Works selected span a wide variety of techniques, styles, and media and address the theme “Our Universe”. The exhibit will showcase artwork created utilizing traditional printmaking techniques of all types: book arts, silkscreen, monotype, woodcut and linocut, lithography, mixed mediums, etching and letterpress.
2012
H20: Fragility and Strength
Fallkirk Cultural Center, San Rafael, California
Juror: Don Soker
January 20–March 9, 2012
The H20: Fragility and Strength exhibition highlights artwork that expresses the fragility or strength of salt and fresh water as a subject of beauty, contamination, politics, religious symbol, life-source, natural disasters, natural weather, or cultural critique.
Exchange Exhibition: featuring the California Society of Printmakers and the Royal Society of Printmakers, London
Bankside Art Gallery, London, England
May 11–June 10, 2012
The California Society of Printmakers
Triton Museum of Art
May 19–July 15, 2012
