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CONTACT:
Mary Beth Zeman, 973-720-2444
zemanm@wpunj.edu









WILLIAM PATERSON UNIVERSITY ART EXHIBIT CELEBRATES PRINTMAKING

“American Impressions,” a juried exhibit of works by 30 professional printmakers from across the United States, will be on view at William Paterson University’s Ben Shahn Galleries from March 23 through April 24, 2009. Gallery hours are Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is free. An opening reception for the exhibit will be held on Sunday, March 22, from 3 to 5 p.m.

The show, in Ben Shahn’s South Gallery, includes a variety of printmaking media, including woodcut, etching, monotype/monoprint, lithography, intaglio, silkscreen, and processes involving photography-derived imagery and digital collage. The exhibit was curated by well-known printmaker and sculptor Willie Cole. In addition to New York metropolitan area artists, the show includes works by artists from New Mexico, Colorado, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Vermont.

Nancy Einreinhofer, director of the Ben Shahn Galleries, says the exhibit contains a “variety of ideas and expressions representative of contemporary art, which are explored through both the traditional print mediums, such as etching and woodcut, and the latest digital technology.” The annual exhibit, which previously focused on Northeast artists, was expanded in 2004 to include artists nationwide.

The grand prize winner is Eileen Foti of Skillman, New Jersey. Foti, who will receive a one-person exhibit in the Ben Shahn Galleries in 2010, comments on issues of wealth and poverty in her series of lithographs titled “Freedom Fries: Dubya’s Dream” and “Freedom Fries: Cheney’s Camouflage.” “Porcelain place settings have become take-out containers,” she says. She creates faux three-dimensional French fry containers by printing lithographs on both sides of the paper and then cuts them out; she then paints portraits that are centered in each box.

Other prize winners include Kathleen Anderson of Hawthorne, first place; Bascha Mon of Long Valley, second place; and Anthony Lazorko of Mesilia, New Mexico, third place. Honorable mention recipients are Diane Alire of Albuquerque, New Mexico; Liz Demaree of South Orange; Leslie Nobler Farber of Demarest; Stephen McKenzie of Annandale; Lucille Nurkse of Brooklyn, New York; and Jay Seldin of Montclair.

Other New Jersey artists selected for the exhibit include Priscilla Snow Algava of Princeton, Keli Dougherty of Waldwick, Eileen Ferara and Barbara Landes of Jersey City, Raquel Foote of Paterson, Alice Harrison of Sparta, Maria Lupo of Roseland, Clarence Mather of Montclair, Miriam Stern of Teaneck, Donna Stackhouse of Washington, Vija Virks-Lee of Loch Arbour, and Ann Williams of Madison. Also featured are Binnie Birstein of Weston, Connecticut; Fran Bull of Brandon, Vermont; Karen Brussat Butler of Norwalk, Connecticut; Noel Farese of New York, New York; Ronald Katz of Brooklyn, New York; Linda Nesvisky of Melrose Park, Pennsylvania; Tony Ortega of Denver, Colorado; and Florence Putterman of Selingrove, Pennsylvania.

Cole’s sculpture and prints have been featured in numerous exhibitions and major collections including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, and the Montclair Art Museum. Cole, whose work addresses questions of class, gender, sex, and contemporary society, studied at the Art Students League and School of the Visual Arts, both in New York City. He has held residences at the Studio Museum in Harlem and the John Michael Kohler Arts Center in Sheboygan, Wisconsin and has received numerous awards including a Tiffany Foundation Grant and the David C. Driskell Prize at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta.

The exhibit is one of two shows on view concurrently in the Ben Shahn Galleries. On view in the East Gallery is “Nancy Campbell: Winner of the 2008 Print Competition,” which features a variety of the artist’s prints. This exhibit is made possible in part by funds from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts.

The Ben Shahn Galleries are wheelchair accessible. Large-print handouts are available. For additional information, please call the Ben Shahn Galleries at William Paterson University at 973-720-2654.

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March 18, 2009

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