March 13, 2006
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WILLIAM PATERSON UNIVERSITY ART EXHIBIT CELEBRATES PRINTMAKING
“American Impressions,” a juried exhibit of works by 41 professional printmakers from across the United States, will be on view at William Paterson University’s Ben Shahn Galleries from March 19 through April 21, 2006. Gallery hours are Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is free. A reception for the exhibit will be held on Sunday, March 19 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 Marilyn Kushner, department chair of prints, drawings and photographs at the Brooklyn Museum. In addition to New York metropolitan area artists, the show includes works by artists from Colorado, Texas, North Carolina, New Mexico, Tennessee and Florida.
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.
Peter Jacobs of Montclair has created a collage from the day’s local paper since March 2005; his works “10-7-05” and “10-9-05” are featured in the exhibit. Jacobs uses traditional cut and paste technique; he then digitizes the images, enhancing the color saturation and contrast, and prints them on sheets of silk. “While the works are grounded in formal concerns of color and line, they invite interpretation of our popular culture and are layered with irony, humor, symbolism, and history.”
“No room at the inn,” a digital inkjet print by Liz Demaree of South Orange, is part of a series inspired by the unique beauty of the Meadowlands and by poetry by William Butler Yeats. “During the last several years my art has become increasingly concerned with narrative, as well as image,” she says. “Scenes that interest me often first inspire a story which then lends itself to be told in a visual fashion.”
Sandra Frech of Haledon presents her lithograph, “Moroccan Woman.” “My art has evolved from more abstract to more representational,” she says. A printmaker for more than 15 years, Frech says that working in this medium “inspires experimentation with techniques such as collage, drawing and transfers.”
Bill Wackwitz Jr. of Wayne exhibits “Katahdin,” part of his recent series of prints of wilderness landscapes. “There is a longstanding relationship in art between the artist and the natural world,” he says. “That history, coupled with many years spent in the Adirondacks, is what influences my imagery: sudden storms, rocky trails and mountain summit panoramas.”
Kushner has served as department chair of prints, drawings, and photographs and curator of prints and drawings at the Brooklyn Museum since 1994. Previously she was curator of collections at the Montclair Art Museum and research associate at the Whitney Museum of American Art. In these capacities she has mounted more than 30 exhibitions including “I Wanna Be Loved By You: Photographs of Marilyn Monroe from the Leon and Michaela Constantiner Collection,” at the Brooklyn Museum in 2005; “Digital: Printmaking Now” at the Brooklyn Museum in 2002,and “Morgan Russell: A Retrospective” at the Montclair Art Museum in the early 1990s. Kushner has published and lectured extensively on works on paper. Currently she is an adjunct professor at Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey, and Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, New York. Kushner received her Ph.D. from Northwestern University in 1991.
The exhibit is one of three shows on view concurrently in the Ben Shahn Galleries. On view in the East Gallery is a one-person exhibit of prints and drawings by Elaine Chong, winner of the 2005 National Print Competition. The Court Gallery features “Connections,” a national juried art exhibit presented by Studio Montclair.
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.
www.wpunj.edu
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