Printstallations

Printstallations presents monumental-sized works by nine artists who combine printmaking techniques with installation art.

Large-scale prints are not a new phenomenon. Nor is installation art. We can trace installation art back to the cave drawings at Lascaux, c. 15,000 B.C. As far back as the Renaissance, artists like Dürer and Titian were making mural-sized woodcuts and engravings that sometimes reached as high as ten feet.  More recently in the late 1960s and early 1970s, large-scale printmaking was commonplace for artists like Andy Warhol, Robert Rauschenberg, and Helen Frankenthaler. However, the combination of the two art forms is a relatively new development in the evolution of each.

Printmaking, in particular, is often defined by its fluid and unconventional use of traditional techniques. The nine artists in Printstallations present innovative printmaking methods in combination with various media such as photography, textiles, photopolymer, and digital techniques. Sarah Amos and Pantea Karimi explore form and patterns by combining indigenous and ancient designs with textiles in their large works. Kyoko Fischer’s illuminated floor installation recalls memories from early adulthood and Stephen Whisler’s massive hanging prints harken back to his days of growing up in a military household. The works by Sarah Sanford, Meghann Riepenhoff, and Fanny Retsek explore the passage of time, impermanence, and instability in nature and one’s surroundings. Together, Beth Howe and Clive McCarthy pursue the possibilities that come from combining software engineering and traditional printmaking conventions.

The exhibition presents different permutations of printmaking and installation practices, creating an environment that immerses the viewer. The artists challenge the potential of this form: they fill the walls, suspend work from the ceiling, and extend their installations onto the floor. As innovators and risk takers, the nine artists demonstrate a vast array of printmaking styles and confront the rules of traditional art making.