I went over to Barbara Archer’s elegant gallery in Inman Park for the talk yesterday on her Atlanta Printmaking Biennial, up until December 3rd. Juror Beth Grabowski, professor and Associate Chair in the Department of Art at UNC/Chapel Hill, gave the attendees a broad and intriguing overview of the works she chose. She reinforced my own affinity with prints, from an 8th grade three color linocut – which I still have – to the years I spent learning the art of intaglio printing, among others, while pulling prints for a local Atlanta studio. It’s a medium that she admitted can get short shrift next to painting. However, artists who paint usually experiment with printmaking, or find it a sympatico medium and continue using it in their work throughout their careers.
There are some superb etchings and engravings, woodcuts and collaged prints in the show. Be sure to catch it soon. The first print below may have been my favorite in the entire show, for its mystery and velvety blacks.
Jerald Krepps, MN. “Collapse”. Intaglio.
Art Werger, OH. “McMansions”. Mezzotint. Formerly professor of art at Wesleyan in Macon, and fellow New Jerseyan.
Megan Moore, CA. “Spinal Flower”. Collaged etchings.
Catherine  Fox has given the show a brief review this week, and another in depth article is featured in the online zine Modern Luxury here.  I wanted to post a few photos of the work from the talk  and try to recall Ms. Grabowski’s descriptions of individual works. Many of the chosen artists were regional, but there was one print from Japan, one from the west coast and several from the midwest. 750 entries in all had to be culled down and Ms. Grabowski added 20 to her original allotment of 50. All the artists are named on the Atlanta Printmakers Studio here.
Please excuse the glare on the glass – even though the flash was off, ceiling lights reflected.
Ashton Ludden, TN. “Homage to the Unidentified II”. Relief etching.
Brian Johnson, TX. “Modern Problems”. Screenprint.
Althea Murphy-Price, TN. “Thread”. Lithograph, screenprint. Grabowski mentioned that the artist uses real hair, places it on a photo-sensitive surface to transfer the image to a printed matrix.
Barbara Archer, introductions.
Beth Grabowski, juror.
A large crowd turn-out on a Sunday afternoon.
Nicholas Ruth, NY. “Transformer”. Relief. This was one of the most vibrant of the prints and the wood grain’s evidence adds texture to the final piece.
I don’t have the name of this artist, but she’s using found objects to create the print. In this case a portion of a dirndl skirt.
Andrew Blanchard, SC. “Dixie Totem”. Screenprint.
Beauvais Lyons, TN. “Genesis 6:19”. Lithograph.
S.L. Dickey, “The Old Fashioned Way” (dimensional screenprint) – Utrecht Award.
Ms. Grabowskie thought this was an appropriate closing print; hilarious in its visual pun, with a beautiful simplicity – an inside joke for printmakers at the end of their work day.
Austin Mouie, FL. “Mop Wash”. Lithograph.