printmepullyou

New Work: Build Up, Tear Down

2012-01-08T21:06:00.004-05:00

I just finished my newest project, a two-color silkscreen repeat pattern, titled Build Up, Tear Down. Measuring 20 x 27", the print can exist solely as a single image or be tiled together in groupings of four or more to create an on-going repeat wallpaper pattern. Shout out to Ryan Parker for his invaluable assistance! This print will become part of a group portfolio called In the Background that will be part of the Southern Graphics Council's 2012 conference, Navigating Currents, in New Orleans this March. More details to follow on that event. Meanwhile, it will also be included in the upcoming show Volcano/Kaboom at Rosemont College in February.

original print, 20x27"

the interior scene created by the four corners of the original print


here's how it looks with four prints tiled together to create the repeat

Coming Up in the New Year

2011-12-28T15:17:00.000-05:00

We're already coming up on the new year and I'd like to let you know what is in store for the first few months of 2012!

Sake barrels, Heian Shrine, Kyoto

In January I will be making my first trip to Japan where I'll be staying in Kyoto for a couple of weeks. I'm really looking forward to it and am excited to take in the sights and the food, and I know I will find a lot of inspiration in the landscape, the rich printmaking history, and the textiles.

As soon as I get back I'll be jumping right into a busy period of shows, and will be starting a part-time apprenticeship at the Fabric Workshop and Museum where I'll be learning about large-scale silkscreen printing on textiles and techniques in color mixing, repeat patterns, and many other things I never learned in school. I can't wait for the challenge!

Also in January, IPCNY's exhibition New Prints 2011 will be traveling to Austin, Texas where it will be on view at UT Austin's Visual Arts Center (VAC) from January 27th - March 10. Presented in collaboration with the Department of Art and Art History’s Printmaking Convergence Program, New Prints 2011 features sixty-seven prints by fifty-one emerging to established artists and printers. Selected from a pool of over 2,500 submissions, New Prints 2011 is the fortieth presentation of the International Print Center New York’s (IPCNY) New Prints Program. This series of juried exhibitions organized by IPCNY several times each year features outstanding prints made within the past twelve months by artists at all stages of their careers. This year’s selection committee included Anders Bergstrom, artist; Beth Finch, Lunder Curator of American Art, Colby College Museum of Art; Christopher Gaillard, president, Gurr Johns, Inc.; Sarah Kirk Hanley, independent print curator and specialist appraiser; Diana Wege Sherogan, artist and collector; and Bruce Wankel, master printer, ULAE.

The End of Escapism, part of the New Prints 2011 Exhibition

Artists featured in the exhibition include: Norman Ackroyd, Erika Adams, Golnar Adili, Polly Apfelbaum, Rosaire Appel, Miguel A. Aragon, Isabelle Ayotte, Trevor Banthorpe, Curtis Bartone, Jarrod Beck, Grace Bentley-Scheck, Marcin Bialas, Shawn Bitters, Nicholas Brown, Rachael Browning, Susan Goethel Campbell, Alejandro Chen Li, Elaine Chow, Matthew Colaizzo, Terry Conrad, Erin Diebboll, Marie Yoho Dorsey, Odette England, Rick Finn, Yuko Fukuzumi, Isabel Gouveia, Libby Hague, Takuji Hamanaka, John Himmelfarb, Charles Hinman, Gary Justis, Alex Katz, Jane Kent, William Kentridge, Anne LaFond, Sharon Levy, Michael Loderstedt, Whitfield Lovell, So Yoon Lym, S.V. Medaris, Michael Neff, Serena Perrone, Ian Ruffino, Ed Ruscha, Soledad Salamé, Bob Shore, Joan Snyder, Preeti Sood, Jessica Stockholder, Tomi Um, and Pete Williams.

In February, I am excited to be part of a three-person show, Volcano/Kaboom, featuring the work of myself, Hiro Sakaguchi, and Alina Josan. Volcano/Kaboom will be on view from February 9 - March 9 at Rosemont College's Lawrence Gallery, with a reception on February 9.

collaborative drawing, Hiro Sakaguchi, Alina Josan, Serena Perrone

As February is the month of love, I've been invited by Detroit-based artist Chido Johnson to participate in his on-going project Let's Talk About Love:

Love Library Schematic

In this exhibition the object of affection takes the form ofa book -- individual artist’s interpretation of “love” concealed andsuperficially homogenized as romance novels. The installation can employ thebasic structure of a bookstore or library. The space has shelves containing thefabricated romance novels with each visually uniform title presented on theshelves and accessible to the viewer. Lounging chairs or sofas are available toencourage individuals to comfortably sit, read and become more activeparticipants. Unable to judge the books by their covers, the viewer has havethe opportunity to scroll through titles and authors (artists) choose a bookand engage with the actual content.

This installation could be read in various ways – the entirecollection a simulation of a global context – masses of people, organized andshelved. Yet, at the point of engagement, as one picks up a book and opens it,apparent is a person’s individual desires and insight. Even as we are dividedideologically, economically and culturally, we are united with the mostbeautiful, yet confusingly complex and so easily misunderstood thing called love. This year's incarnation of Let's Talk About Love will open at MOCAD on February 10. Details to follow!

Also in February, I will be teaching Seriality and Narrative in Intaglio at Second State Press! The class will meet four Saturdays in February from noon - 2:30 pm. If you are interested in participating, you can contact me or Second State Press anytime before February 1 to sign up.

image courtesy Second State Press

Seriality and Narrative in Intaglio: In this class students will employ intrinsic techniques of the intaglio printmaking process to create a series of prints that result from an original plate that evolves and is altered over the course of three weeks. Beginning intaglio techniques will be taught incrementally and the copper plate will be reworked and printed multiple times allowing for imbued narratives to arise and evolve through each successive state. Students will learn how to prepare a plate, transfer imagery, and use a range of techniques including drypoint, line etch, aquatint, spit bite, and sugar lift to create their imagery. Students will also learn how to handle paper and edition their prints, as a small edition will be pulled from each state, resulting in an editioned series of prints.

More details on all this and more will follow soon. Happy New Year everyone!

More New Work in Progress: Repeat Patterns

2011-12-21T13:19:00.000-05:00

Along with the drawings for an on-going photo-litho project that I posted recently, I'm also in the midst of doing my first repeat-pattern based work. These preliminary drawings will become silkscreen bleed prints that, when aligned together, will form a repeat-pattern wallpaper.


the first layer printed in dark yellow.

Second State Press, Space 1026, and Cade Tompkins Projects: Upcoming Events

2011-11-30T17:47:00.001-05:00

Hello Everyone! I wanted to share with you a few upcoming events. First up is:

First Proof, Second State: Silent Auction and Portfolio Release Party! Thursday, December 8, 6-9 pm, Second State Press, in the Crane Arts Building, 1400 N. American Street, Philadelphia.

A member's exchange portfolio will be on display and one of each print in the portfolio will be up for silent auction to commemorate Second State Press' one year anniversary and help kick off another great year. It will be a fun and festive evening with light fare and libations, the silent auction, special membership rates, and the debut of a new limited edition tote bag. This event is free and open to the public! My new print, Borderline, will be one of the prints available during the silent auction.


Serena Perrone, "Borderline", photolithography with etching, 2011

The prints were created and donated by Second State Press members through our First Member Print Exchange. Participating artists include: Darly Bergman, Emilia Brintnall, Josh Carlevato, John Darling-Wolf, Lindsay Deifik, Shelby Donnely, Nicole Patrice Dul, Amze Emmons, Elaine Erne, Avrom Ari Friedman, Eileen Heasley, Eric Hinkley, Zach Kolodziejski, Ahni Kruger, Chris Landau, Ashley Limes & Sarah Kodish-Eskind, Zach Lindenberger, Caroline McPhillips, Catherine Nelson, Brian Palmieri, Ryan Parker, Jennifer Pascoe, Serena Perrone, Hannah Riotto, Max Seckel, Crystal Shephard, Christina Taylor, Chinn Wang, Jake Yeager.

The following evening, Friday, December 9th, will be the Space 1026 Annual Art Auction. Space 1026 (1026 Arch Street, Philadelphia), doors open at 6 pm, auction begins at 7 pm. Two little prints of mine will be up for auction that night (the one below, plus a little bonus!).

Serena Perrone, Untitled, etching, 2011

Next there will be the Holiday Sale at Cade Tompkins Projects in Providence.

You can take advantage of two Saturdays of affordable drawings and prints by: Allison Eleanor Bianco, Ian Cozzens, Lynne Harlow, Kirsten Hassenfeld, Tayo Heuser, Daniel Heyman, Patrick Malin, Anne Patterson, Serena Perrone, Jessica Rosner, Alec Thibodeau, Karen Tompkins, Susan Hardy Twaddell, Brian Whitney, and Jay Zehngebot.

The Holiday Sale will be open to the public on Saturday, December 10th and Saturday, December 17 from noon to 6 pm at Cade Tompkins Projects, 198 Hope Street, Providence, RI (entrance on Fones Alley between Angell and Waterman). A second state of "Adventures in Echolocation: Somnambulist", and "Borderline" will be some of the new work available during the sale.

Serena Perrone, Adventures in Echolocation: Somnambulist, second state, 2011


Serena Perrone, Borderline, photolithography with etching, 2011

There you have it - four opportunities to see and collect some great art by local artists and support some great galleries, co-ops and printshops. More news about things coming up in early 2012 to follow soon!

Here and Now and E/AB Installation Views

2011-11-30T14:21:00.001-05:00

Greetings all! There are only a few days left to see "Here and Now: Prints, Drawings and Photographs by Ten Philadelphia Artists" at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The show runs through Sunday, December 4 (FREE Admission for its final day!) The ten artists on view are Astrid Bowlby, Steven and Billy Blaise Dufala (who operate in collaboration), Vincent Feldman, Daniel Heyman, Isaac Tin Wei Lin, Virgil Marti, Joshua Mosley, Serena Perrone, Hannah Price, and Mia Rosenthal. Here are a couple press photos from the opening, courtesy Around-Philly.

PMA Opening, photo: Around-Philly

Here are more installation shots from the show, all courtesy of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Department of Communications. (Thank you!)

November has flown by, but it was a great whirlwind of printmaking. See my previous post for images of the IPCNY show that opened and is ongoing through January, before it travels to Austin, Texas.

The Editions/Artists' Book Fair also took place in Chelsea the first weekend of November, and I exhibited with Cade Tompkins Editions/Projects. We had a great turnout, and Cade's booth looked fantastic. We saw a ton of great new work from all the exhibitors, and many friends and colleagues as well. Printeresting did some great coverage of the Print Week events. If you haven't already, please check out their posts here: E/AB Fair, Prints Gone Wild, and IFPDA Fair to see some great images and a nice shout-out.

That's all for now. I hope you all enjoyed Thanksgiving! More updates to follow soon!

IPCNY: New Prints 2011/Autumn

2011-11-11T21:03:00.001-05:00

This past weekend I had the good fortune to attend Print Week in New York. I made my way to the IFPDA Fair at the Park Avenue Armory, the Editions/Artists' Book Fair in Chelsea, where I was exhibiting with Cade Tompkins Editions/Projects (pics to follow in a separate post), and the International Print Center's current exhibition, which includes one of my works. As always, the Fairs were a whirlwind of visual over-stimulation and catching up with friends and colleagues you don't see every day. Stepping into the IPCNY show on Saturday afternoon was a respite from the hustle and bustle, and it was a really nice show, full of exciting work. Below are the curatorial essay and images from the opening reception, courtesy of the IPCNY. Enjoy!

NEW PRINTS 2011/AUTUMN

Curatorial Essay by Sarah Kirk Hanley

image courtesy IPCNY

The most fascinating – and simultaneously daunting – aspect of printmaking is its diversity. Printmaking has been a means of expression for hundreds of years, and myriad techniques have evolved over time to fit the changing needs of artists. As the twenty-first century unfolds, artists are working in a dizzying array of approaches. The New Prints Program at International Print Center New York--now in its second decade--is unique in its effort to document the full range of this activity as it develops.

image courtesy IPCNY

For each exhibition, entries are solicited from artists around the world, and a panel of jurists selects the strongest examples from this pool to represent a cross-section of the varied nature of printmaking activity today. Artists whose work attracts a wide following – in this case, Ed Ruscha, William Kentridge, Alex Katz, Polly Apfelbaum, Jessica Stockholder, John Himmelfarb, Whitfield Lovell, Charles Hinman, Jane Kent, Norman Ackroyd and Joan Snyder – are shown alongside emerging artists and those who have established a strong reputation in regional, academic, or professional circles. In the eyes of the jurists, each of these works merits consideration on its own terms.

image courtesy IPCNY

For some artists, printmaking is a primary means of expression, but most see printmaking as an alternative medium that complements their work in other formats. Whether a preferred medium or a secondary one, most artists create their prints with a time-honored process: a concept is developed and then composed on one or more matrices using one or more categories of printmaking (intaglio, relief, lithography, screenprinting, digital) and the techniques that best suit their intention – the final result is editioned in the number of impressions they determine, on a paper of their choosing. Some play with techniques or materials to tease out new effects within these parameters, while others invent entirely new approaches. Still others use printmaking as a foundation through which to express themselves in a three-dimensional format – with books, installations, or sculptures. In any of these endeavors, an artist might collaborate with a master printer in an established workshop that provides support and sophisticated technologies, or simply work from a private studio to produce editions or unique works on his or her own.

image courtesy IPCNY

The prints on view in New Prints 2011/Autumn represent a wide range of topics that major contemporary artists are exploring-- from the portraiture of Alex Katz, to socially-grounded works of William Kentridge and Whitfield Lovell, to the abstract and formal expressions of Polly Apfelbaum, Joan Snyder, Jessica Stockholder, and Charles Hinman. In the same way, many emerging artists are drawn to the expressive possibilities of traditional printmaking and bring fresh ideas and/or approaches to the medium. Pete Williams and So Yoon Lym have used lithography and etching respectively to convey their interest in socio-political issues; Williams' From the Banks of the Chongqing 1 symbolically expresses the recent radical changes to the Chinese landscape in its transformation to a major economic power, while Lym’s James: Solar Etched is part of her ongoing exploration of plaited hairstyles as a marker of identity. Isabel Gouveia’s unique intaglio works, which combine cut-out elements in a puzzle-like fashion, demonstrate a fresh approach to formal abstraction. The return of the narrative – a powerful undercurrent in contemporary art – is found in the work of Erika Adams, Michael Neff, Curtis Bartone, Sharon Levy, and Alejandro Chen Li, who juxtapose compositional elements in unexpected ways to elicit humor, surrealism, or revulsion. Personal narrative is the subject of Odette England’s series Without Me, in which she takes a digitally-printed photograph from her family album and physically cuts herself out of the image. In a similar vein, Matthew Colaizzo’s and Serena Perrone’s seemingly straightforward landscapes become increasingly macabre as the viewer engages more deeply with the imagery to uncover a hidden story.

A handful of artists in this exhibition have pushed traditional techniques beyond their customary use to generate innovative effects. Ed Ruscha has transformed his now iconic Standard station image -- which he first editioned in the mid-1960s in screenprints of varying color combinations – into an albinic version of itself, cleverly titled Ghost Station. The print was created with the Mixografía® process, developed in the early 1970s, which involves pressing paper pulp into a three-dimensional relief mould that is customarily inked in advance – when the paper is removed, it takes on the form of the mould as well as the colors that were applied to it. Ruscha’s unprecedented choice to leave the mould un-inked results in a print that is both visually and conceptually elegant. Likewise, Susan Goethel Campbell, Trevor Banthorpe, Grace Bentley-Scheck, Erin Diebboll, and Bob Shore have played with both traditional and newer techniques to create effects that transport their landscape imagery into the sublime. Yuko Fukuzumi and Gary Justis likewise achieve technical and perceptual sleight-of-hand in their abstracted images.

image courtesy IPCNY

The exhibition also includes several prints that demonstrate new and experimental approaches. Rosaire Appel and Soledad Salamé have worked in a purely digital aesthetic that could not have existed prior to the invention of the personal computer – this is a development that will likely become more prevalent as artists learn to fully exploit the possibilities of working entirely within the parameters of technology. Ian Ruffino’s unique process (explained in full detail on his website) involves either layering, punching, and/or piercing prints – sometimes he adds hand-additions or sews them with bookbinding thread. Rachael Browning’s Ledger series uses common office materials and techniques to create otherworldly abstractions. Marie Yoho Dorsey’s Starry Night – an intaglio print on gampi paper embellished with Japanese-style embroidery – brings together dichotomies of high- and low-brow materials and East/West techniques and ideas.

image courtesy IPCNY

Preeti Sood and Miguel Aragón– who are immigrants to Great Britain and the U.S., respectively – use the relatively new technology of laser engraving to comment on the cultures in which they were raised, using found imagery from their native homes as source material. Sood’s Patriarchy shows an exterior wall plastered with gridded posters containing cookie-cutter portraits of adult Indian males –details have been selectively removed to suggest the anonymity of power as well as the losses experienced by those who have none. Aragón’s sophisticated and entirely innovative approach begins with photographs of drug-cartel violence from the newspaper in his native Ciudad Juárez (or Juárez), which is situated directly opposite El Paso near the border of Texas and Mexico and has one of the world’s highest rates of violent crime. Aragón laser-engraves the newspaper photos of “incomprehensible violence” (artist’s statement) to four-ply chipboard at varying depths. In the process, the board is burned. Aragón then removes certain areas of the matrix with a drypoint needle to add texture. He then takes a unique intaglio impression from the charred residue, which serves as the “ink.” The resulting image – which appears almost abstract at first – slowly coalesces into a whole. The prints have a liminal, otherworldly, and haunting quality that echoes the imperfection of memory and perception, while the embossed terrain implies the physicality and permanence of the crime. Aragón’s burned images directly correlate to the damage they have imposed on the citizens of Juárez, which have been likewise burned into the collective memory.

image courtesy IPCNY

A handful of works in the exhibition demonstrate a technical proficiency and attention to detail that dazzles. Norman Ackroyd’s sublime aquatint landscapes, Marcin Bialas’ haunting etchings of architectural spaces, Nicolas Brown’s highly detailed linocut landscapes, Rick Finn’s intricate reduction woodcuts, and Takuji Hamanaka’s ethereal woodblock prints of textile designs all demonstrate fascinating and subtle effects. Each of these artists fully exploit the possibilities of his chosen technique.

image courtesy IPCNY

Artists’ books and multiples, which are created to be interacted with and handled, are represented here in a number of works that are clever, contemplative, or political in nature. How to display book objects is an eternal dilemma for galleries and museums – it is difficult to protect them from damage while also allowing visitors to experience them as the artists intended. Jane Kent, who has worked in the book format for several decades, anticipated this problem in Skating, which can be either displayed on a wall or enjoyed in sequence as individual sheets. The work is both meditative and clever, and its content is paired ingeniously to the book’s form (for an in-depth discussion of this book, see Susan Tallman, “Jane Kent and Richard Ford Go Skating” in Art in Print I, no. 2 [July-August 2011]: 16-20). Two works by Michael Loderstedt demonstrate his divergent interests: Ghost Coutureis an inventive and witty piece of paper engineering, while the Queen of Amsterdam metaphorically considers our “fragile stewardship of the natural world” (artist’s statement online). Tomi Um’s Little Operacleverly uses the accordion-fold format both as a means of developing a narrative and augmenting the graphic impact of the imagery. Terry Conrad’s carefully designed Manipulatives is a series of abstract bendable objects of the artist’s creation that are housed in a box that serves as both container and means of display.

image courtesy IPCNY

On a more serious note, books serve as a format for socio-political expression in Susan Goethel Cambell’s Dirty Pictures: Portraits of Air, Vol. 1 and Anne LaFond’s Advance. Campbell’s piece documents a project in which the artist asked participants throughout the world to install air filters of uniform size in “a place of their choosing so it could pick up particulates in the atmosphere” (artist’s website). LaFond’s expressionistic etchings respond to the recent uprising in Egypt. On the more meditative end of the scale, Elaine Chow’s Year of Oxalis 1 recalls the elegant packaging of Japanese retailers of the past – a lost art that she memorializes here. Isabell Ayotte’s Là où je ne suis pas (There Where I am Not) is a sophisticated pairing of words and imagery. The book is quiet, minimal, and poetic, evoking a mysterious sense of loss. The first spread reads, “pour ajouter à l’hiver j’ai ferme les volets / j’ai menti” (to augment winter I closed the shutters / I lied); second spread: “je ne sais pas s’il faul rompre le fil ou le tisser” (I didn’t realize that I must break the cord or weave it); third spread “le sol s’effondre” (the sun collapsed); final spread “je n’ai pas bougé pendant mon absence” (I did not leave during my absence).

image courtesy IPCNY

Prints and printmaking materials have been put to use for sculptural ends by several artists in the exhibition. In Blue Motive, John Himmelfarb covered a wooden frame with relief prints in his signature blocky geometric style, to playful effect. S.V. Medaris also surfaced a wooden form with a printed image in Carcasses (from The Meat Locker series) – the work is potent in scale and graphic impact. Jerrod Beck’s unique approach sidesteps adhesion of a print to another form; instead, he recycles intaglio plates as moulds for a plaster-cast form – in effect, fusing the process into one step.

image courtesy IPCNY

Print-based installation, which is sometimes called “printstallation,” is an exciting new direction for the medium that has become increasingly prevalent in recent years. In this format, artists use printed materials as building-blocks to create sculptural or installation works. This approach allows artists to extend printmaking to a scale that is not limited by the size of the matrix or the printing press, allowing for fresh avenues of expression and conceptual exploration. Golnar Adili’s Pink Letter, Shawn Bitters’ Nature Shadows Him, and Libby Hague’s My One and Only Life So Far represent some of the directions this new format has taken.

image courtesy IPCNY

The variety and scope of the works in this exhibition demonstrate the vitality and range of printmaking in contemporary art. Whether artists are drawn to the medium’s unique aesthetic properties, its versatility, or its reproducibility (or all of these qualities), they continue to push the boundaries and reinvent the medium for a new generation. As the New Prints Program at IPCNY moves forward, followers can look forward to a brilliant chronicle of work by some of the most talented artists of the day who find inspiration in this chameleonic and sophisticated medium.

New Work in Progress

2011-11-07T10:46:00.000-05:00

Here are some process shots of the new work in progress. These stabilo drawings on mylar will hopefully become photolithos that will be combined with drypoints. Hope to have 20 drawings completed for this project - stay tuned!

IPCNY and Editions/Artists' Book Fair NYC

2011-10-25T14:31:00.001-04:00

Greetings Everyone!

It's that great time of year again for the print world - we're coming up on Print Week New York! (Print Week Schedule of Events.) This year I'll have work on view at two locations: the IPCNY's New Prints 2011/Autumn exhibition, and the Editions/Artists' Book Fair with Cade Tompkins Editions/Projects (both in Chelsea). I'm also looking forward to seeing the IFPDA Fair uptown at the Park Avenue Armory on 67th - its a great lineup! I love Print Week because I get inspired and excited by all the new work I see, and its a great time to catch up with friends and colleagues from across the country. I hope I'll see some of you there!

Norm Ackroyd, courtesy Dolan/Maxwell and IPCNY

International Print Center New York presents New Prints 2011/Autumn, on view November 4, 2011 – January 7, 2012 in its gallery at 508 West 26th Street, Room 5A. The show consists of sixty-seven prints by fifty-one emerging to established artists, selected from a pool of over 2,500 submissions. The Exhibition will coincide with New York Fine Art Print Week. It will feature an extended opening reception on November 3rd, 6-9pm, and Sunday hours on November 6, 11-6pm. New Prints 2011/Autumn is the fortieth presentation of IPCNY’s New Prints Program, a series of juried exhibitions organized by IPCNY several times each year, featuring outstanding prints made within the past twelve months by artists at all stages of their careers.

The Selections Committee for New Prints 2011/Autumn is: Anders Bergstrom (Artist), Beth Finch (Lunder Curator of American Art, Colby College Museum of Art), Christopher Gaillard (President, Gurr Johns, Inc.), Sarah Kirk Hanley (Independent Print Curator and Specialist Appraiser), Diana Wege Sherogan (Artist and Collector), and Bruce Wankel (Master Printer, ULAE). An illustrated brochure with an essay by Sarah Kirk Hanley will accompany the exhibition.

The complete artists’ list is as follows: Norman Ackroyd, Erika Adams, Golnar Adili, Polly
Apfelbaum, Rosaire Appel, Miguel A. Aragon, Isabelle Ayotte, Trevor Banthorpe, Curtis Bartone, Jarrod Beck, Grace Bentley-Scheck, Marcin Bialas, Shawn Bitters, Nicholas Brown, Rachael Browning, Susan Goethel Campbell, Alejandro Chen Li, Elaine Chow, Matthew Colaizzo, Terry Conrad, Erin Diebboll, Marie Yoho Dorsey, Odette England, Rick Finn, Yuko Fukuzumi, Isabel Gouveia, Libby Hague, Takuji Hamanaka, John Himmelfarb, Charles Hinman, Gary Justis, Alex Katz, Jane Kent, William Kentridge, Anne LaFond, Sharon Levy, Michael Loderstedt, Whitfield Lovell, So Yoon Lym, S.V. Medaris, Michael Neff, Serena Perrone, Ian Ruffino, Ed Ruscha, Soledad Salamé, Bob Shore, Joan Snyder, Preeti Sood, Jessica Stockholder, Tomi Um, and Pete Williams.

In addition to the many independent artists included in this show, the presses, publishers and printshops represented are: Aberystwyth University, Bleu Acier, Inc., Brodsky Center for Innovative Editions, Collaborative Art Editions, Printworks Gallery, Derriere L’Etoile Studios, Durham Press, Dead End Press, Frans Masereel Centrum, Gary Lichtenstein Editions, Grenfell Press, Groveland Editions, Lower East Side Printshop, Manneken Press, Marginal Editions, Mixografia®, Sassafras Press, Sol Print Studios, Strane Dizioni, Tandem Press, and Vermont Studio Center.

New Prints 2011/Autumn will tour to the Visual Arts Center at The University of Texas/Austin from January 27 through March 10, 2012 as part of the Print Convergence program, initiated at the University in 2010. The tour is organized through IPCNY’s Exhibitions Touring Program.

Secondly, I will be exhibiting at the Editions/Artists' Book Fair with Cade Tompkins Editions/Projects. Cade Tompkins specializes in prints, drawings, photographs and multiples by emerging, mid-career and established artists. New editions are available by Tayo Heuser, Daniel Heyman, Jungil Hong, Beth Lipman, Serena Perrone and Dan Wood.

Artists represented include William Allen, William Anastasi, Victoria Crayhon, Lynne Harlow, Daniel Heyman, Tayo Heuser, Beth Lipman, Jane Masters, Serena Perrone, Jessica Rosner, Aaron Siskind, and Barbara Westermann.

Representing RISD Editions, Prints by: Gregory Amenoff, Dottie Attie, Enrique Chagoya, Linda Conner, Carl Fudge, Kirsten Hassenfeld, Jim Isermann, Julia Jacquette, Yvonne Jacquette, Roberto Juarez, Jane Kent, Michael Krueger, Virgil Marti, Jürgen Partenheimer and Christopher Ulivo.

The 2011 Editions|Artists' Book Fair will take place Friday, 4 November to Sunday, 6 November, and is FREE to the public. Hours: 11 AM - 7 PM Friday & Saturday; 11 AM - 4 PM Sunday.

LOCATION:
Former Dia/Former X Initiative
548 West 22nd Street, Between 10th & 11th Avenues.

Founded in 1998 by Susan Inglett of I.C. Editions and Brooke Alexander Editions, the Editions|Artists' Book Fair has grown in size and stature to become the premier showcase for contemporary publishers and dealers, presenting the latest and greatest in prints, multiples and artists' books. The Editions|Artists' Book Fair is well known for its vibrant energy and innovation, thanks to over sixty exhibitors, presenting hundreds of artists representing New York, Johannesburg, Amsterdam, London, Paris and points in between. The Editions|Artists' Book Fair was the first fair to offer FREE admission, initiated with the intent of introducing a broader public to the medium of prints, multiples, and artists' books. Fourteen years later the Fair continues to do just that.

Participants:
20th CENTURY ART ARCHIVES, 21ST EDITIONS, 6 DECADES BOOKS, ANARTIST, ANCHOR GRAPHICS AT COLUMBIA COLLEGE CHICAGO, ANNUAL, ARTKITCHEN GALLERY A, BAMart/BROOKLYN ACADEMY OF MUSIC, BARON/BOISANTÉ, OM FROM INDIA, BENGTSSON FINE ART, BLACK SHAMROCK ETCHINGS, ROBERT BLACKBURN PRINTMAKING WORKSHOP, BOOKLYN ARTISTS ALLIANCE, BRODSKY CENTER FOR INNOVATIVE EDITIONS, BURNET EDITIONS, CANNONBALL PRESS, CARROLL AND SONS, CENTER STREET STUDIO, CHARLES LANE PRESS, BERNARD CHAUVEAU EDITEUR / LE NÈANT EDITEURS, CIRRUS GALLERY & CIRRUS EDITIONS LTD., CLAY STREET PRESS, JOHAN DEUMENS GALLERY, mfc-michèle didier, DIEU DONNÉ, DRUCKVEREINIGUNG BENTLAGE E.V., ESOPUS, EXIT ART, FEATURE INC., FORTH ESTATE, GRAPHIC MATTER, HIGHPOINT EDITIONS, I.C. EDITIONS, INC., JUNGLE PRESS EDITIONS, DAVID KRUT PROJECTS, THE LAPIS PRESS, LINCOLN CENTER VERA LIST ART PROJECT, LN EDITION, LOWER EAST SIDE PRINTSHOP, LUISCIUS ANTIQUARIAN BOOKSELLERS, JOHN McWHINNIE@GLENN HOROWITZ BOOKSELLER, LEROY NEIMAN CENTER FOR PRINT STUDIES, OEHME GRAPHICS, PARKETT, PHAIDON PRESS, INC., PHILAGRAFIKA, PRIMARY INFORMATION, THE PRINT CENTER, PURGATORY PIE PRESS, RED TRILLIUM PRESS, GALERIE ALEX DANIELS - REFLEX AMSTERDAM, SCHROEDER ROMERO & SHREDDER, SILAS FINCH, SOLO IMPRESSION INC., CARL SOLWAY GALLERY, SPECIFIC OBJECT / DAVID PLATZKER, CADE TOMPKINS EDITIONS • PROJECTS, WESTERN EXHIBITIONS, WHITE WINGS PRESS, WORLD HOUSE EDITIONS,IRVING ZUCKER ART BOOKS

Volcanoes and Voyages Installation Views

2011-10-03T19:46:00.003-04:00

Thanks to Cade Tompkins and everyone who came out for the reception for my solo show Volcanoes and Voyages. These are images from the installation, courtesy Cade Tompkins Projects. The show opened September 10 and runs through October 29th. I spent the weekend in Providence and got the chance to catch up with people I haven't seen in quite a while, which was really fun. If you are in the area and haven't seen the show yet, I hope you get a chance to before it closes! Click here to visit Cade Tompkins Projects' website for more images and gallery information. And, click here to read a review of the show by Renee Doucette for Providence's Eastside Monthly.

Review of Volcanoes and Voyages, by Renee Doucette for East Side Monthly

2011-09-21T14:13:00.002-04:00

Cade Tompkins Projects
198 Hope Street Providence Rhode Island 02906
www.cadetompkins.com cadetompkins@mac.com
Telephone 401 751 4888

SERENA PERRONE
Life Is a Mountain, Not a Beach
An artistic journey to find Shangri-La

by Renée Doucette
East Side Monthly, September 2011

In a city like Providence, there are openings, festivals and activities happening constantly in almost every neighborhood, but during the summer, most of the major players in the city’s art community lie low, collecting themselves for the busiest season in the art world. Dealers, collectors and art enthusiasts return from their summer vacations to start the autumn season with a bang. With this in mind, a definite place to make time for this month is Cade Tompkins Projects as she launches her fall season with a brilliant solo exhibition by artist Serena Perrone.

As with many exhibits in Providence, there is a connection between the artist and the city: Perrone attended RISD to earn her MFA in Printmaking. Since graduating in 2006, her work has been showing all over the country. Looking through Perrone’s expansive portfolio, it is difficult to pick a favorite work of her art but thankfully, Tompkins’ keen eye has assembled a perfect selection of Perrone’s work that still leaves a craving for more. Even though websites are informative, these works are with a doubt meant to be seen in person. Her list of exhibitions is impressive, especially because it is uncommon to see so many noteworthy shows so early in an artist’s career. There is an immediate sense of skill, maturity and unique innovation.

Approach and Descent 2011, drypoint on Japanese paper with hand coloring, 34 3/4 x 71 1/4 inches
Edition of 7

Amidst the different techniques, Perrone weaves a rich, symbolic visual language that can both tell a story for an inquisitive viewer and stand strong without explanation for those just seeking a gorgeously composed work. She has cultivated a dreamlike world that is still based in a recognizable reality that captivates an audience, drawing them in with surreal imagery. An example of this is the masterful Volcano Series. This print series consists of 20 dry point, gouache monotype, silkscreen and letterpress prints of volcanoes, which at first glance are expressive landscapes in which the volcano exhibits a human-like quality. While the work is formidable when taken at face value, a deeper understanding reveals that the series is inspired by the journeys of an award-winning poet named Craig Arnold who went missing during a pilgrimage to visit a volcanic island off the coast of Japan in 2009. Hidden within the volcanoes’ plumes of smoke are words taken from the blog Arnold kept during his trip. Each print is date stamped to correspond to the day of a particular blog entry. Though the series is stored in a handmade linen portfolio where the prints are safely stacked, they are best viewed as a gorgeous panorama, as they are in this show. This work is a celebration, but even without the knowledge of this back-story, Volcano Series stands firm, much like its subject, as visual proof of Perrone’s passion for and in her work.

Perrone’s style highlights a new trend in the emerging art community of being proudly fickle when selecting a medium; why select just one method when the combination of several can create a perfect fusion on the paper? The artist shows her ability to create combinations of woodblock prints, etchings, monotypes, and silver or gold point drawings. There is excellence in her technique. Unlike a canvas that be painted over or a photo that can be manipulated on a computer, each of the mediums Perrone chooses to work with have existed for hundreds of years and are not particularly easy to master. They each require patience, precision, skill and the understanding that if there is even one hiccup in the process, there is no choice but to start over again.

A Volcano Pilgrim in Exchange for Fire 2010, Two from a suite of 20 drypoint, gouache monotype,
silkscreen and letter press prints with colophon in linen box, 11 x 15 inches each, Edition of 4

Also worth noting is Perrone’s sculptural work, 27 Views of Shangri-La. This work, created within the past year, highlights her skill in wood burning on slices of a log through a series of drawings featuring businesses named “Shangri-La.” All of these drawings show the locations with a plume of smoke as if they were on fire, but they are also physically drawn on wood, which is the likely fundamental building component for each structure. Again, Perrone leaves her work complete and still open to interpretation. It is subtly mysterious, which seduces her audience to explore her imagery and symbolism. It is interesting to see her move away from paper for this work, even though paper is really just another manifestation of wood. Though most of her art still remains silently personal, there is a hint with her recent work that she is beginning to discover the world of her surroundings outside of herself, while still giving her viewers something endlessly fascinating to observe.

As a new season begins and people start to run around to take their kids to soccer practice, pull their sailboats out of the water, or prepare their closets for the pending cooler weather, it is important to not let certain opportunities slip through the cracks. Serena Perrone’s talent truly stands out in the fertile field of emerging artists and the chance to see her work in person is not one to be missed.

Serena Perrone: Volcanoes and Voyages
September 10-October 31
Cade Tompkins Projects
198 Hope Street, Providence
401 751-4888
www.cadetompkins.com

Volcanoes and Voyages at Cade Tompkins Projects

2011-09-16T18:04:00.000-04:00

Greetings! I'm writing to tell you all about my solo show that just went up at Cade Tompkins Projects in Providence, RI. We had a soft opening on September 10th and there will be an artist's reception on Friday, September 30th from 6-8 pm. The show will run through October 29th, so I hope that those of you in the area will get a chance to see it!

Here is the press release:

"Cade Tompkins Projects is pleased to exhibit an extraordinary new body of work created by the artist Serena Perrone. The exhibit debuts new work at Cade Tompkins Projects, September 10 - October 29, 2011. New work consists of drawings and prints on various paper as well as a 27- part pyrography on wood. Among the featured work in the exhibition are two new print series: A Volcano Pilgrim in Exchange for Fire, and On Escapism and Exile.

27 Views of Shangri-La, 2010

A Volcano Pilgrim in Exchange for Fire is an extraordinary combination of 20 drypoint prints with gouache monotype, silkscreen and letterpress. Each gouache monotype is hand painted which creates variations within the edition that adds to the powerful and evocative volcano views. Serena Perrone began contemplating the imagery of volcanoes for her work prior to learning about the young and gifted poet, Craig Arnold. Arnold, whose disappearance near the mouth of a volcano that he was researching for his poetry, stunned the world. At the same time, it captivated Serena Perrone who began to research and read Arnold’s poetry. Perrone found subtleties in his poetry that shared many similar underlying themes and content which are integral to her approach to making art. Thus the genesis of this ambitious new body of work.

A Volcano Pilgrim in Exchange for Fire will be on view simultaneously at The Philadelphia Museum of Art in an exhibition curated by Innis Howe Shoemaker, Chief Curator of Prints and Drawings entitled “Here and Now” (September 9-December 4, 2011) as well as two other large - scale woodcuts with silverpoint and goldpoint drawings from Serena Perrone’s series entitled In the Realm of Reverie. Please see website and full details on the A Volcano Pilgrim in Exchange for Fire.

A Volcano Pilgrim in Exchange for Fire, 2010 (one of 20)

On Escapism and Exile, 2010 consists of a suite of four drypoints with chine collé and hand drawing on paper. Each of the four measures 30 x 22 inches with a central circular depiction, measuring 16 inches in diameter. Each depicts a scene composed of an elaborate landscape with a young mystical female figure, who appears undressed rather than naked, and shown with a curled tail. Each of the four images contains an oval remarque above the main scene below. A combination of swirling narrative and fictive landscape with rivers, palm trees, lilies and other flowers, reindeer, volcanos, together with houses that appear to be stage sets, distant bridges and structures on fire. The overlapping of the images and single female protagonists in each print, reveal themselves to the viewer over time. Nothing is immediately apparent in the work, but one can sense the intertwining narration spoken in a visual language. Like a Grimm’s fairy tale or an
allegorical work by William Blake, Serena Perrone sets up her work to be a montage of images and possible narratives for the viewer to interpret. Please see website for full details on the On Escapism and Exile.

The End of Escapism, 2010

The most recent work, Approach and Descent, 2011, is a newly completed drypoint with hand coloring on Japanese paper. Composed of a sweeping large-scale culmination of the images and ideas that began with the making of the two series listed above. Printed on three sheets of paper, the overall dimensions are 37 x 72 inches. The central image is one large volcano set in a pink beet colored sky with a large plume. Multiple layers of images of palazzo type houses, hands, trees, small fires, laundry waving on a line, chairs, a movie projector and telephone booth all add to the dream like Fellini style of swirling images set into a tableau encircled by a striped yellow and pink proscenium stage. Please call the gallery or check the website soon for more information on this latest work.

Approach and Descent, 2011

In addition, a five-part drawing entitled The Voyage Series, 2004-2005, will be on view and a selection of works from the In the Realm of Reverie 2004-2008 series with other selected work by the artist."

Search, from The Voyage Series, 2004-2005

Via Crucis, from The Voyage Series, 2004-2005

The End of Summer and Early Autumn Highlights

2011-09-13T15:35:00.000-04:00

Greetings! It's been a whirlwind of a few weeks. I took a trip to Sicily in August to see my dad, and witnessed Etna erupt 3 different times, which was a great treat. The first two were from my house and the third was from the air as I took off from the airport on my way back to Philly. That was spectacular, and the plume was visible even as we flew over Naples and Pompeii toward Rome. Life imitating art, and vice versa.

Etna erupting, viewed from my terrace, August 12, 2011

I came back to Philly just as the fall art season started to heat up. I had the pleasure of attending Orit Hofshi's lecture and opening reception for Resilience at Swarthmore's List Gallery, curated by Director Andrea Packard. It was so nice to escape center city for the idyllic setting of Swarthmore with its expansive lawns and fragrant trees. Orit's work is wonderful to see, and learning more about her process and methods was truly inspiring. The List installation really maximized and played with the space in an effective and exciting way, you really must see it for yourself.


Cover of Orit Hofshi's exhibition catalog, List Gallery, Swarthmore College

Soon after my return it was time for the opening of Here and Now: Prints, Drawings and Photographs by Ten Philadelphia Artists, curated by Innis Shoemaker at the Philadelphia Museum of Art on Friday, September 9th. The artists include: Astrid Bowlby, Steven and Billy Blaise Dufala (who operate in collaboration), Vincent Feldman, Daniel Heyman, Isaac Tin Wei Lin, Virgil Marti, Joshua Mosley, Serena Perrone, Hannah Price, and Mia Rosenthal. I was fortunate to have friends and family in town for the opening, and we had a great turn-out. It was a memorable evening and I got to spend it with so many wonderful people. Here's a link to a brief article about the show in the Philadelphia Inquirer: Philadelphia Museum of Art Exhibits Work of 10 Local Artists.

Images: Daniel Heyman and Hannah Price, courtesy Proper Philadelphia and Philadelphia Museum of Art

Saturday September 10th was also the soft opening for Volcanoes and Voyages, my solo show at Cade Tompkins Projects, which runs through October 29th. More details and images to follow in a separate blog post.

Detail from Approach and Descent, 2011, being debuted at Cade Tompkins Projects

Simultaneously, two exchange portfolios and fund raisers were underway, one at AS220 Printshop in Providence, RI, and the other at the 39th Street Gallery in the Gateway Art Center just outside of DC. Organized by AS220 member Allison Bianco, the "4th Anniversary Print Exchange" took place on September 7th.

Colophon for AS220's print exchange (image courtesy AS220)

Detail of "Plume", silkscreen, my print for the AS220 portfolio

On September 10th, Trade, curated by Phil Davis, opened at the 39th Street Gallery located just outside of DC. The artists included are: Joan Belmar, Serena Perrone, Jon Swindler, Novie Trump, Justin Strom, Debra Ruzinsky, Tom Wolff, and Laura G. Thorne.

Curator's statement:
“Trade” is exchange; it means “commerce” and “profession.” The exhibition Trade at the 39th Street Gallery intends to be all of those things. It’s about working in the arts, meant to be transparent about placing the gallery and the Gateway CDC are at the center of all the things galleries do: supporting artists, building relationships, creating discourse, and yes, funding the continuation of those efforts. Based on the concept of an exchange portfolio and curated by Phil Davis, Trade brings together eight artists to each create a new edition of 12 artworks. Every artist will receive one work by each other artist, becoming one another’s collectors and inevitably also one another’s promoters. The remaining four works in each edition are available for sale – all at the same price of $250. It’s a rare opportunity to collect work by established artists at such an affordable level. Proceeds go directly to the artists and also benefit the Gateway CDC, which in turn supports arts programming in the 39th Street Gallery as well as work to continue developing the Gateway Arts District.


My etching for "Trade" at the 39th Street Gallery

I had never been to that space before. I was in DC that day already so I had the opportunity to attend the opening and meet some of the other artists and organizers, which was a lot of fun.

That wraps it up for now! More information to follow about things happening this fall including my solo show at Cade Tompkins Projects, the Editions/Artists' Book Fair in NYC, and some more exciting news about the IPCNY's New Prints/Autumn 2011 exhibition. Stay tuned!

A Volcano Pilgrim: University of Wyoming, Laramie

2011-08-09T15:45:00.005-04:00

For Folks in the west, you have through August 27th to view A Volcano Pilgrim in Exchange for Fire, my solo show at the Art Museum of the University of Wyoming, Laramie, which opened July 2. I just received some installation shots from the museum, so I'll share them with you!

Fall 2011 Preview

2011-08-02T20:15:00.011-04:00

Hello Everyone! I hope you have been enjoying the summer months despite the record heat and violent storms. I'm leaving the country for the month of August but wanted to keep you up-to-date on things that will be taking place as soon as I get back, starting the first week of September. Here is a rundown of the first few events taking place this fall (in chronological order). If you happen to be nearby DC, Providence, Boston, or Philadelphia when any of these events are going on, please stop by - I'd love to see you!

September 7: AS220 Providence, RI: 4th Anniversary Exchange Portfolio release party. I will be participating in this portfolio exchange in early September. I won't be able to make it to the release party, but I'm sure it will be fun!The print above is called Plume (detail) and is a two-color silkscreen on Rives BFK grey. This will be part of the AS220 Exchange Portfolio in September, and is derived from preliminary drawings for the newly completed large-scale drypoint Approach and Descent.

September 9: Philadelphia Museum of Art: Opening Reception for Here and Now: Prints, Drawings, and Photographs by Ten Philadelphia Artists, curated by Innis Shoemaker, the Audrey and William H. Helfand Senior Curator of Prints, Drawings, and Photographs. I'm very excited to be a part of this exhibition, and the Museum will be showing 3 of my works: A Volcano Pilgrim in Exchange for Fire, which is a 20-part suite of drypoints with gouache, silkscreen, and letterpress; and two of my large-scale woodcuts with silverpoint and goldpoint on frosted mylar, Phantom Vessels and the Bastion of Memory, and A Day in November: Impending Loss.I am also happy to announce that the PMA has acquired the suite of 20, A Volcano Pilgrim in Exchange for Fire, for its permanent collection. The reception is September 9th and the show runs September 10 through December 4th in the Berman and Steiglitz Galleries. The artists in this show are Astrid Bowlby, Steven and Billy Blaise Dufala, Vincent Feldman, Daniel Heyman, Isaac Tin Wei Lin, Virgil Marti, Joshua Mosley, Serena Perrone, Hannah Price, and Mia Rosenthal. For more information, visit the PMA here.
September 10-October 29; Reception September 30: Serena Perrone: Volcanos and Voyages, at Cade Tompkins Projects. This is a solo exhibition at Cade Tompkins Projects in Providence, RI. Selections from numerous bodies of work will be on view along with brand new pieces completed in recent months, including my newest piece, Approach and Descent, a 6-foot drypoint with hand coloring (below).The show opens September 10 and runs through the end of October, with an artist's reception October 7 from 6-8 p.m. Visit Cade Tompkins Projects here for more details!
September 10-October 31: From 5-8 p.m. on September 10, there will be an opening for the exhibition Trade, curated by Phil Davis at 39th Street Gallery, in the Gateway Arts Center, Brentwood, MD (DC Metro). Part fund-raiser and part exchange portfolio, Trade will be on view through the end of October. The artists in this show are: Joan Belmar, Serena Perrone, Debra Ruzinsky, Justin Strom, Jon Swindler, Laura G. Thorne, Novi Trump, and Tom Wolfe. I will be showing a small two-color etching (below). More information about 39th Street Gallery here.October, TBA: I plan to be a visiting artist at Ningyo Editions in Boston, collaborating with David Curcio on another project, which is very exciting. Last year we had a great time putting forth Settlements, which I am also happy to report was recently acquired by the Library of Congress.November 3-6: I will be exhibiting with Cade Tompkins Editions/Projects at the annual Editions/Artists' Book Fair in NYC. Held in the former Dia/former X-Initiative, this year's fair will take place November 3-6. Follow the link here for more details about this year's E/AB Fair.

Approach and Descent

2011-07-31T15:18:00.009-04:00

Hello everyone! Here are some photos of my newest piece, just completed a few days ago. You can also see images at my website: serenaperrone.com.It took 6 months of working the plate, and 5 days to print and paint the stripes by hand, but its finally done! This is a large-scale drypoint on copper, with spit bite aquatint, printed in a two color blend on Okawara Japanese paper. Once printed, I hand-painted the stripes in gouache (shell pink, mustard yellow, and olive). The last photo shows my hand to get a sense of scale. This piece is on its way to Providence for my solo show at Cade Tompkins Projects which runs September through October. More details will follow in the coming weeks regarding the PMA show opening soon, the solo show at Cade Tompkins Projects, a show in DC, and more! It's shaping up to be a busy fall.

Mid-Summer Update and Fall Preview

2011-07-17T13:11:00.000-04:00

Greetings All! Here's a mid-summer update of what's on view now and what is in the works for the fall.

My solo exhibition at the Art Museum of the University of Wyoming, Laramie is up and on view through August 27th. It's a great pleasure to be exhibiting A Volcano Pilgrim in Exchange For Fire, my recent 20-part portfolio at the University of Wyoming. This suite of prints is based on the writings of the late poet Craig Arnold, who taught at the University prior to his death in 2009, so it is an honor to have been invited to show the work there. For a link to the exhibition, click here.Mark your calendars for the opening of Here and Now: Prints, Drawings and Photographs by Ten Philadelphia Artists, opening on September 9th at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Curated by Innis Shoemaker, this show will be on view at the museum through December 4th. To view the press release and further details, click here.
Opening the same week will be a solo show at Cade Tompkins Projects in Providence, RI. That show will be up through the end of October with an artist's reception the first or second week of October. I'll be debuting some new work there. (here's a little preview of part of a new project in progress). Specifics on the date will follow soon!
Also in the fall, I will be participating in two exchange portfolios. The first will be in DC at the 39th Street Gallery, in the Gateway Arts Center. Curated by Phil Davis, this exchange portfolio and exhibition is scheduled to open on September 10th. More details to follow.

The second will be AS220's 4 Year Anniversary Print Exchange. The print exchange party will take place at AS220 in Providence, RI on September 7th. Created to celebrate this great community printshop's 4th year, this should be a fun exchange! More details to follow on this one as well. Learn more about AS220 here.Hope you all are enjoying the summer, and stay tuned for updates on these and other events in the fall.

Philadelphia Museum of Art and Laramie Wyoming Exhibitions

2011-06-07T12:43:00.006-04:00

Hello Everyone! I'm very pleased to share the news of two upcoming exhibitions. In July and August will be a solo exhibition at the Museum of Art at the University of Wyoming, in Laramie.

Centennial Complex, University of Wyoming (photo courtesy U. of WY)

On view will be my 20-part series A Volcano Pilgrim in Exchange for Fire, which chronicles the final days of the late poet Craig Arnold as he trekked volcanoes in Japan. The acclaimed poet taught at the University of Wyoming and it is a great honor to be invited to share my work with the Laramie community. Held in the Centennial Complex on the campus of the University (shown above), the exhibition runs from July 2 - August 27, 2011.

Laramie, Wyoming (image courtesy 2011 World News Network)

The next show will take place at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. I am very happy to have been invited by the show's curator Innis Shoemaker, who is also the Museum's Senior Curator of Prints, Drawings, and Photographs, to participate in this exhibition. Titled Here and Now: Prints, Drawings and Photographs by Ten Philadelphia Artists, this exhibition runs from September 10 - December 4, 2011 in the Berman and Stieglitz Galleries and includes: Astrid Bowlby, Steven and Billy Blaise Dufala, Vincent Feldman, Daniel Heyman, Isaac Tin Wei Lin, Virgil Marti, Joshua Mosley, Serena Perrone, Hannah Price, and Mia Rosenthal.

Philadelphia Museum of Art (photo by M. McClellan for GPTMC, courtesy Uwishunu)

The work I will be exhibiting in this exhibition will also be the series A Volcano Pilgrim in Exchange for Fire, potentially with other large-scale woodcuts from the series In the Realm of Reverie. Here is the press release from the Philadelphia Museum of Art:

June 6th, 2011

Exhibition of Art on Paper Celebrates City's Artistic Diversity

Here and Now: Prints, Drawings, and Photographs by Ten Philadelphia Artists presents a selection of works on paper by ten Philadelphia artists who reflect the remarkable strength and diversity of talent that exists in this city’s cultural community. The artists represented in the exhibition—Astrid Bowlby, Steven and Billy Blaise Dufala (who operate in collaboration), Vincent Feldman, Daniel Heyman, Isaac Tin Wei Lin, Virgil Marti, Joshua Mosley, Serena Perrone, Hannah Price, and Mia Rosenthal—range in age from 25 to 50 and utilize a broad range of pictorial strategies. Several also share an interest in addressing contemporary social and political problems in their work, from the abuse of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib to the challenges of everyday life in this city’s neighborhoods. In some cases, such issues are confronted in a direct and unflinching way, while others are addressed with edgy humor or ironically masked by great beauty.

“Philadelphia has a remarkable—and remarkably vibrant—artistic community,” says Timothy Rub, the George D. Widener Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, “and this is something that the Museum should not simply acknowledge, but also celebrate. It makes our city a lively and very special place. What I find especially exciting about this exhibition is the exceptional quality and creativity that shines through in the work of each of these artists.” The work of sculptor, installation artist, draftsman, and printmaker, Astrid Bowlby (born 1961) refers to accumulation: of pieces of paper, of shapes and patterns, of lines with varying densities. Here and Now will include Round Robin (2004), a suite of six etchings, consisting of whimsical gatherings of flowers. Philadelphia native Vincent David Feldman (born 1966) is Adjunct Assistant Professor at Tyler School of Art’s program in Tokyo, Japan, which is the source of the photographs shown in the exhibition, including the gigantic Reiyukai Shakaden Temple (Tokyo, 1975). The painted photographs of Isaac Tin Wei Lin (born 1976) featured in Here and Now are animated by wild accumulations of calligraphic patterns, musical notations, and cartoon-like elements, creating charged areas in otherwise negative spaces. The youngest of the artists in the exhibition, photographer Hannah Price (born 1986) will show a group of inkjet prints from her ongoing series City of Brotherly Love which documents a particular aspect of her life in Philadelphia, the first large city in which she has ever lived. Innis Shoemaker, the Museums’s Senior Curator of Prints, Drawings, and Photographs, notes: “Some of the artists in this exhibition are also known for their work in other media, such as installation, video, sculpture, or painting. It has been a privilege, though sometimes a challenge, to make a relatively small selection from the remarkable variety of work being produced today by so many talented artists in our city and to give some sense of what’s going on right now.”

The Philadelphia Museum of Art is among the largest art museums in the United States, showcasing more than 2,000 years of exceptional human creativity in masterpieces of painting, sculpture, works on paper, decorative arts and architectural settings from Asia, Europe, Latin America, and the United States. An exciting addition is the newly renovated and expanded Perelman Building, which opened its doors in September 2007 with five new exhibition spaces, a soaring skylit galleria, and a café overlooking a landscaped terrace. The Museum offers a wide variety of enriching activities, including programs for children and families, lectures, concerts and films.

For additional information, contact the Communications Department of the Philadelphia Museum of Art at (215) 684-7860. The Philadelphia Museum of Art is located on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway at 26th Street. For general information, call (215) 763-8100 or visit the Museum's website at www.philamuseum.org.

More information will follow with details about the opening receptions for each of these shows, and with installation images once the shows are installed!

NEXT 2011: Chicago, and "27 Views of Shangri-La"

2011-04-25T02:02:00.005-04:00

Hello Everyone! I'm excited to have a new body of work on view at NEXT 2011::The Invitational Exhibition of Emerging Art in Chicago.
My series of twenty-seven woodburnings will be on view at Cade Tompkins Projects' booth at the NEXT Fair, April 29th-May 2, 2011, with an Opening Preview on April 28th. The fair is held at The Merchandise Mart, at 222 Merchandise Mart Plaza, Chicago. For more information on the fair's events, exhibitors, directions, and tickets, check out their website: NEXT 2011.
The work I will be exhibiting is titled 27 Views of Shangri-La, a series of woodburnings of various places including old roadside motels, nudist colonies, trailer parks, XXX-theaters, luxury resorts, all that share the name "Shangri-La". I depict them engulfed in fire and smoke to connote the dilution and corruption of the mythic ideal, as its name has come to be associated with modern places that are false utopias. Yet, they continue to conjure ideas of wanderlust, the exotic unknown, and a promise of escapism in its many forms. The title, 27 Views of Shangri-La, is an allusion to Hokusai's Thirty-Six Views of Mt. Fuji which was a series in which Hokusai obsessively depicted Mt. Fuji, revealing Mt. Fuji as his own personal Shangri-La.

Shangri-La Motel - New Smyrna, Florida

Shangri-La Oasis Gentleman's Club - Tampa, Florida

Shangri-La XXX Theater - Chicago, Illinois

Shangri-La Nudist Ranch - New River, Arizona

The entire 27-part series can be seen on my website by clicking HERE. The other artists on view at Cade Tompkins Projects at the NEXT 2011 Fair include: Penny Ashford, Coral Bourgeois, Brian Chippendale, Kirsten Hassenfeld, Tayo Heuser, Jungil Hong, Nick Hollibaugh, Beth Lipman, John Sargent, Thomas Sguoros, Dean Snyder, and Ben Watkins.

If you are in Chicago this week, I hope you get the chance to visit the Fair! Coming soon will be information about more upcoming projects, including a solo exhibition this summer in Laramie, Wyoming, and some exciting things planned for Providence and Philadelphia in the Fall. Details to follow!

"Parallel Play: A Kinship" at FPAC Gallery, Boston March 3 - April 29

2011-03-03T09:53:00.013-05:00

Greetings Everyone! On the heels of my Baltimore show closing, another show is going up! I am curating and participating in "Parallel Play: A Kinship" at the Fort Point Arts Community in Boston, that opened March 3rd and runs through April 29. The opening reception and artists' talk was held Thursday, March 17. Thanks to everyone who came out, it was great to see you all! We also made #2 on Time Out Boston's list: "20 Art Shows to See this Spring"! Click HERE to view the article!

The term “Parallel Play” is used to describe a form of childhood play during the early stages of development. During parallel play children play alongside one another but remain engrossed in independent play, without attempting to influence or engage the other children nearby. Occasionally a child will observe another child’s play and alter its own mode of play in response. This behavior allows for the possibility of creating social relationships, as a child will gradually become more engaged in sharing and playing with other children, leading the child to learn new skills through observation. I see this form of play being carried into adulthood. Adults in crowded coffee shops who linger for hours reading or writing - two activities which one would think require quiet and solitude - I view as engaging in parallel play. I also see this in relation to the work habits of printmakers as they work within their medium, in the shared collective space of the print shop. Printmakers must learn to collaborate and share press time, workspace and equipment as they develop individual work. In contrast to artists with self-contained processes like painting who more often isolate themselves in their studios and work completely in solitude, artists who engage in printmaking are bound to parallel play by the nature of our process. The artist who desires seclusion often finds the obligatory parallel play to be a challenge. However, parallel play carries rewards of shared knowledge, technique, and the act of collaboration - all of which enrich the individual voice of the printmaker. Katie Baldwin, David Curcio, Edward Monovich, Edie Overturf, and Serena Perrone, are five artists who engage in parallel play and share kinship between them through their use of printmaking as their primary mode of expression. The genealogy of process and technique is apparent while their individual voices persist and are sustained.

Here are a few samplings from the show:

Edie Overturf, On the Wane
David Curcio, The Captain
Katie Baldwin, Things Left Behind: World
Serena Perrone, In Our Cinematic Lives: Redux
Edward Monovich, Tourniquet
Edie Overtuf, Makeshift Study
Katie Baldwin, Things Left Behind: Trap
David Curcio, The Star That Leads Them All
Serena Perrone, Settlements

Fort Point Arts Community is located at 300 Summer Street M1, Boston, MA 02210.
Gallery Hours are Monday-Wednesday 9 a.m. - 3 p.m., Thursday-Friday 9 a.m. - 9 p.m., closed Saturday and Sunday.

For more information, call 617-423-4299, or visit the FPAC website: HERE

Exit Strategy Installation Views!

2011-02-28T01:45:00.010-05:00

The closing reception for my two-person installation with Marty Weishaar, "Exit Strategy", which coincided with the Annual Creative Alliance Residents' Open House and a free double set by Future Islands was last night, and 750+ people came out for the party! Here are some views from the event, it was a great success! Many thanks to Marty, Amy, Jed and the Creative Alliance for such a fun opportunity. If you missed the show, here you go!
Above: Marty's bridge and his swooping planes. Below: On the long wall my series "On Escapism and Exile" - made at the Vermont Studio Center; my cluster of woodburnings titled "27 Views of Shangri-La", an etching and Japanese woodcut piece titled "Settlements", and my hand-cut paper piece, "The Flowers of Edo".

Marty's planes and oil painting, and spanning the corner, my series of 20 prints (drypoint, gouache monotype, silkscreen, and letterpress) "A Volcano Pilgrim in Exchange for Fire", the first time its been installed!
It floats like magic thanks to my amazing installation helpers, you know who you are!
Marty's delicate works on paper and larger oil painting, incredible bridge structure and soaring plane.
Below: my etching and Japanese woodcut, "Settlements".
Below: one of the pieces in the four-part series "On Escapism and Exile", titled "The End of Escapism": drypoint on copper with hand-drawing.

Above: "The Flowers of Edo", made up of hundreds of hand-painted and hand-cut paper flowers. Below: Marty and me in front of his bridge.
"27 Views of Shangri-La", rounds from logs from back home in Missouri, featuring woodburnings of Shangri-La in its many real incarnations.... Shangri-La race track, Shangri-La barbershop, Shangri-La Motel, Shangri-La gentleman's club, Shangri-La nudist colony...
Future Islands' first set was acoustic in the gallery, and they plugged in for their second set in the adjoining theater. It was a great time!

Exit Strategy Closing Party, CA Residents' Open Studios and Free Show by Future Islands!

2011-02-22T01:38:00.005-05:00

This week is your last chance to see "Exit Strategy", my two-person installation with Marty Weishaar at the Creative Alliance at the Patterson, in Baltimore. There will be a closing party this coming Saturday, February 26th from 7-9 pm, which coincides with the Creative Alliance's Annual Open Studio event, with a double set by the band Future Islands - first set will be acoustic in our gallery space, the second set will be electric in the theater adjoining the gallery, at 9 pm - and it's all free!
Here is a little preview of half of the installation. The Creative Alliance is located at 3134 Eastern Avenue, just east of Patterson Park. Look for the Patterson Theater marquee, you can't miss it! Hope to see you there!

Printed in Providence: February 4 - March 19!

2011-02-02T17:28:00.004-05:00

I am very pleased to announce the opening of Printed in Providence, this Friday, February 4th, 6-8 p.m. at Cade Tompkins Editions/Projects in Providence. Up through March 19.

Here is the press release:
Printed in Providence, with Guest Curator Lois Harada

Cade Tompkins Projects is pleased to present Printed in Providence, a group exhibition of printed works created in Providence. Artists in the exhibition include William Anastasi, Brian Chippendale, Gil Cozzens, Victoria Crayhon, Jo Dery, Nancy Friese, Carl Fudge, Lynne Harlow, Tayo Heuser, Jungil Hong, Michael Kreuger, Jürgen Partenheimer, Jane Masters, Serena Perrone, Andrew Raftery, Will Schaff, Aaron Siskind, Alec Thibodeau, Chris Ulivo, Dan Wood, Mickey Zacchilli, and Pippi Zornoza.

The tradition of printmaking is such that even though an artist may be based in one city, the printers and the printshop may be located in another. Printed in Providence will include works physically printed in the city at established institutions, home studios, and all spaces in between. Many of the artists received their introduction to printmaking at The Rhode Island School of Design as students. Others like Carl Fudge, Michael Kreuger, Jürgen Partenheimer, and Chris Ulivo were invited by RISD Editions, an artist in residency program, where a master printer and students work together with the artist to edition printed work in the RISD Printmaking Department.

The AS220 Community Printshop in Providence establishes similar partnerships with artists, inviting them to work with local printers to create a printed edition. The work on display from Lynne Harlow, Tayo Heuser, Will Schaff, and Pippi Zornoza are the results of this collaboration. Many printers also utilize the Printshop to create zines, collections of drawings, essays, and comics, through offset lithography which is a technique usually reserved for commercial printing. The zines on display also utilize silkscreen printing and copy machines readily available to the independent publisher.

The exhibition will feature a diverse range of printmaking techniques and mediums from the demanding photogravures of Aaron Siskind to the contemporary digital prints of Victoria Crayhon. Letterpress printing, a practice currently enjoying a revival, will also be represented by Dan Wood, a RISD graduate and current professor operating a printshop in Providence’s Federal Hill district.

For more information and some images from the show, click here!

Cade Tompkins Editions/Projects is located at 198 Hope Street, Providence, RI 02906
Hours: Weekdays by Appointment (401-751-4888), Saturdays 10-6

Baltimore, Boston, and Providence Shows

2011-01-04T16:31:00.008-05:00

Hello Everyone and Happy New Year!

Time for another roundup of upcoming shows and events in early 2011:

January 15-February 26: Exit Strategy, Creative Alliance at the Patterson, Baltimore
February 4-March 19: Printed in Providence, Cade Tompkins Editions/Projects, Providence
March 3-April 29: Parallel Play: A Kinship, Fort Point Arts Community, Boston
Ongoing, through January 25: Inside and Outside the Clamshell Box: Diary of a Print Portfolio, Delaware County Community College, Media PA
May: Solo Show TBA, Cade Tompkins Editions/Projects, Providence

Exit Strategy, a two-person show with Marty Weishaar will be up on January 15 at the Creative Alliance at the Patterson in Baltimore! This show will be the first time A Volcano Pilgrim in Exchange for Fire will be displayed in its entirety so I'm looking forward to that. Also on display will be On Escapism and Exile, Settlements, and some new work involving woodburing (27 Views of Shangri-La), hand-colored cut paper (The Flowers of Edo), and with any luck, a brand new drypoint - hot off the press - measuring 3 x 6 feet. Marty and I met during our residency at the Vermont Studio Center and I'm so excited to be showing along side Marty the work I began there along with the rest of the new work created this fall that resulted from that experience. I'll update this blog with installation views once the show is hung!
Here's a press release from Jed Dodds at the Creative Alliance:

Exit Strategy: Marty Weishaar and Serena Perrone
Opens Sat Jan 15, 5-7pm. Closing Reception & Residents’ Open House Sat Feb 26. Receptions and Open Studios 7-9pm. FREE concert w/ Future Islands 9pm. On view Jan 15 – Feb 26.
Free.

From the storybook lure of a trail leading into the woods, to the euphoric sensation of an airplane lifting off the runway, the idea of leaving home — of escaping the familiar — is one of those central metaphors that’s hardwired into our DNA. There’s a kind of weightless energy to it, like a baseball arcing through the air. It’s a time of action, unpredictability, and exploration. At the moment you set out, anything can still happen, from the most horrific to the most ideal; the only certainty is that sooner or later things will come to rest again. The plane comes down. The wanderer returns home.

CA Resident Artist Marty Weishaar and Philadelphia-based printmaker Serena Perrone, who met during an artist residency both explore these moments of possibility, unsettling or exhilarating as they may be. Perrone combines painting with woodcut, drawing, silkscreen and intaglio methods to craft uncanny landscapes that reflect a longing for – and break from – the familiar, home and an idealized past.

Meanwhile, a series of large, unwieldy airplanes made of cardboard careen through the gallery and over the viewers’ heads, as if approaching for a landing. A painter by training, Marty Weishaar’s cardboard constructions have grown increasingly ambitious over the past few years. Here, the jet planes suggest distant travel, as well as the moment when one (hopefully) rejoins “grounded” reality. Weishaar also shows paintings that hark back – with a dose of humor and self-consciousness — to the era of abstract expressionism, a time of utopian escapism that coincided, not coincidentally, with the jet age.

Perrone and Weishaar’s exhibition closes with CA’s annual Resident’s Open House Party Sat Feb 26, with open studios on the second floor along with a group exhibition and a FREE show by the band Future Islands.

In February and March some of my work will be included in the exhibition Printed in Providence, at Cade Tompkins Editions/Projects, Providence, RI. It promises to be a fantastic grouping of works from some wonderful artists, created while the artists were living or working in Providence. More details and images to follow soon!

Next up will be a show at the Fort Point Arts Community in Boston. My exhibition proposal was accepted and the show, Parallel Play: A Kinship, will open March 3 and run through April 29th, with a reception on the evening of March 17. Here's a little blurb about the show:

Parallel Play relates to the work habits of printmakers as they work within their medium, in the shared collective space of the printshop. Katie Baldwin, David Curcio, Edward Monovich, Edie Overturf and Serena Perrone are five artists who engage in parallel play and share kinship through their use of printmaking as their primary mode of expression. The genealogy of process and technique is apparent while their individual voices persist and are sustained.

I'm looking forward to showing with four other artists who are creating beautiful and exciting work. I will be doing a gallery talk during the show, possibly on the 17th of March, and I will update this blog with new info and images as soon as they are available!
Also, still on view through January 25th is Inside and Outside the Clamshell Box: Diary of a Print Portfolio, at Delaware County Community College. Between this show, the Baltimore show, and the Boston show, I will be covering the 95 corridor over the next three months. I hope some of you can make it out to see these! Once these are up and open, I hope be taking a little breather before I gear up again for a solo show slated for May at Cade Tompkins Editions/Projects. More details will follow!

Second State Press Opening and DCCC Exhibition

2010-12-19T18:48:00.009-05:00

Yesterday was great fun - the opening of Second State Press, Philadephia's new collaborative and communal printshop! Here's a link: Second State Press. Begun by Jennifer McTague and Zach Lindenberger with the great support of Board of Directors Richard Hricko, Rochelle Toner, Shelley Thorstensen, Eva Wylie, and Tiffany Tavares, who are all great artists and supporters, Second State Press opened it's doors yesterday to a great reception.
I'm a fob-holder so I'll be working to keep things going smoothly there, and I am excited to have regular access to such a great facility for the first time since I was in school. It's tough for artists who rely on specific equipment (printmakers, glassblowers, ceramicists, photographers) to continue to grow within a medium when they no longer have access to the right facilities once they're out in the real world and no longer tied to an institution. Second State Press is something Philly's needed for a long time and I hope this provides opportunities for local printmakers to really bust out some exciting new work. I saw a lot of great familiar faces and met some new folks as well at the grand opening, so I think we're off to a good start.

Also, a new show just opened at Delaware County Community College, Inside and Outside the Clamshell Box: Diary of a Print Portfolio. Curated by Cheryl Harper, this show features the print portfolio Philadelphia Mark:Remarque, which was organized by Rochelle Toner for Philagrafika 2010 and the Southern Graphics Conference earlier this year. This portfolio, part of the permanent collection of the Free Library of Philadelphia, is on display along side other works by the artists involved, showing both the differences and the continuity between these artists' broader works and the prints they made specifically for the Mark:Remarque portfolio. The show will be on view until January 25, 2011. Rochelle Toner,Artist and Dean Emeritus of Tyler School of Art, will be a guest speaker on Thursday, January 20 from 11 a.m. to noon. There will be a closing reception on Tuesday, January 25, 5-7 p.m.
Click here for more information and a list of artists: http://webarchive.dccc.edu/gallery/exhibitions.html

On Escapism and Exile

2010-11-18T18:07:00.007-05:00

At long last, the body of work I started at the Vermont Studio Center in July is finished. These four prints were released at my Ningyo opening and the E/AB Fair the first week of November. These are drypoint, ink, and chine colle.

Escape into Exile

Staking a Claim

Nordic Visions on Via Lincoln

The End of Escapism

Two Events: Boston and NYC, November 4-7, 2010

2010-10-25T19:10:00.008-04:00

Hey everyone! I'd like to let you all know about two upcoming events that are taking place the first weekend of November in Boston and New York - hopefully some of you can make it to one or both!

The first event will be Settlements, an edition release party and opening reception at ningyo editions in Watertown, just outside of Boston. On view will be several new editions: Settlements, a moku hanga with etching and chine colle; Settlements: Black Ocean Ice, etching with aquatint, both completed this month in my first collaboration with Master Printer David Curcio. Also on view will be the recently completed and yet unreleased series On Escapism and Exile, begun while I was in residence at the Vermont Studio Center this summer.

The release party and opening reception takes place Thursday, November 4, from 7-9 pm in ningyo editions' brand new gallery space located at 83 Sprint Street, Watertown, MA. The exhibition will be on view through December 4th with additional viewing hours Saturdays, November 6, 13, 20, and 27 from noon-4 and by appointment. Please visit ningyoeditions.com for more information!

The second event is the annual Editions/Artists' Book Fair in New York, where my work will be exhibited by Cade Tompkins Editions/Projects. On view will be the two Settlements editions, the series On Escapism and Exile, Fictive Homelands, and Through the Periscope. This will also be the debut of my recently completed portfolio of 20 prints, A Volcano Pilgrim in Exchange for Fire, done while an Artist-in Residence during the month of September at All Along Press in St. Louis.

The Editions/Artists' Book Fair is free and open to the public November 5-7, 11 am - 7 pm Friday & Saturday; 11 am - 4 pm Sunday. This year's E/AB Fair is located in the Former Dia/Former X Initiative, at 548 West 22nd Street, between 10th & 11th Avenues. More information and a complete list of exhibitors and participants can be viewed at the E/AB website: eabfair.com

In November I will send out a second notification regarding four more upcoming exhibitions in Philadelphia, Baltimore, Providence, and Boston in December, January and February. It is turning out to be a very busy stretch of months! You can also find updates and images work at serenaperrone.com and on my blog, printmepullyou.

Settlements: Ningyo Editions, Boston

2010-10-25T18:10:00.009-04:00

I had the privilege of spending 10 splendid October days in Boston collaborating with my good friend and Master Printer David Curcio at his studio, ningyo editions. We have been hoping to do an edition for quite some time now and thanks to his initiative and generosity, it became a reality!

I often work in intaglio or woodcut but I've never used Japanese woodcut - moku hanga - in my own work before. I wanted to employ this technique at ningyo because David excels at this method and it was a great chance for me to learn, hands-on. I decided I wanted to somehow combine drypoint and etching on copper with moku hanga and after a bit of brainstorming we figured out a good approach to this project, resulting in Settlements, a 7-color woodcut printed with gouache instead of watercolor, combined with intaglio elements that were colle'ed onto the woodcut print. The print is 15.5 x 18.5" and is an edition of 10 plus 4 AP. A second state of Settlements, the original etching with the addition of a dark aquatint is currently being editioned to be released simultaneously, and will be titled Settlements: Black Ocean Ice.

There will be an edition release party and opening reception at ningyo's brand new gallery space at 83 Spring Street, in Watertown on Thursday, November 4th from 7-9 pm. There will be additional viewing hours on Saturday, November 6, 13, 20, and 27 from noon-4, and by appointment.

The above print, Settlements, will be on display along with Settlements: Black Ocean Ice, the drypoint Adventures in Echolocation: Somnambulist, and the series On Escapism and Exile, which I printed at the Vermont Studio Center in July. The show will be up at ningyo editions through December 4th.

All of these works plus more will be on view simultaneously at the Editions/Artists' Book Fair in New York, with Cade Tompkins Editions: November 5-7, 2010 at the Former Dia/Former X Initiative, 548 West 22nd Street, between 10th and 11th Aves.

All Along Press: St. Louis

2010-10-19T23:57:00.017-04:00

It's been a while since I posted but I've been away for the past month and a half doing projects in St. Louis at All Along Press, and in Boston at Ningyo Editions. It's been a whirlwind and I worked myself into delirium in the process but it was all well worth it and I'm so happy to have had these remarkable opportunities.

In St. Louis I was given free reign at All Along Press thanks to the extreme generosity of Elysia Mann and Steven Brien, my dear family and friends, and the support of a Santo Foundation Individual Artist Grant, the Juror being Barbara O'Brien, Curator of the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art in Kansas City.

I was in St. Louis for just over a month and embarked on a mammoth project involving all three processes that are used at All Along Press: letterpress, silkscreen, and intaglio. This project culminated in a series of twenty intaglio plates printed with gouache monotype printed on a Takach etching press, over which I printed silkscreen, then hand-set type on a Vandercook letterpress.

These images of active volcanoes located in Italy, Peru, Colombia, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Mexico, and Japan are paired with fragments of text culled from the travel blog of the late poet Craig Arnold in the days leading up to his death in April of 2009 in Japan, while hiking volcanoes and conducting research for his next book of poetry. The twenty prints in this series chronicle the twenty days on which he wrote during his Japan expedition. This project, titled A Volcano Pilgrim in Exchange for Fire, (edition 5+AP) was conceived of during my residency at the Vermont Studio Center in July, and will be exhibited this fall and winter in New York and Baltimore.

Above are some process shots of the editioning in progress. It was an intense month but it was great to be back in my home town and spending time with friends and family who I don't get to see very often these days. I was invited by Lisa Bulawsky to do a visiting artist lecture and studio visit with her printmakers at Washington University, who gave me a very warm welcome, and it was great to be back in the space where I apprenticed at Island Press in 2003 with Tom Reed. The work I saw in the studios was strong and I am excited to see what kinds of new printmakers emerge from that group. I saw some good shows including Anne Hamilton's work at the Pulitzer Foundation and the performance Intervals, which was a truly unique experience. It was also great to see the way Cherokee Street has grown to incorporate so many new young businesses and artists, and All Along Press is certainly a great presence in the neighborhood. St. Louis is fantastic and at its best in the months of September and October.

The series A Volcano Pilgrim in Exchange for Fire will be debuted at the Editions/Artists Book Fair in New York, November 4-7th with Cade Tompkins Editions*Projects, and will be the key piece of mine in a larger installation with Marty Weishaar at the Creative Alliance at the Patterson in Baltimore in January. Details on these exhibitions will follow!

New Website: serenaperrone.com

2010-08-28T22:56:00.004-04:00

I'm traveling a bit this fall and am starting work on a new project in St. Louis at All Along Press during the month of September. In the meantime, I've created a new portfolio website: serenaperrone.com, where you can find a more concise collection of images of work, news, links, and my cv. Feel free to take a look! As the new project develops I'll be posting more updates here at printmepullyou.

Proofs from Vermont Studio Center, July 2010

2010-08-06T11:03:00.008-04:00

I'm back from my month-long residency at the Vermont Studio Center. It was a wonderful experience for me, and something I really really needed to do. I set out with five 12" circular copper plates, five small palm-sized oval plates, a roll of Japanese paper, a couple of cans of ink, some drypoint tools, and no pre-conceived notion of what I was going to make. I completed 4 of the circular plates while there, plus one small oval plate, a cartouche element done on plexi (which I discarded and need to re-do). The series is still definitely in progress but the sketches are done for the remaining plates and I can't wait to have the whole series completed and together in my hands. I'll share with you some process shots from my studio at the Vermont Studio Center, July 2010.

IPCNY Press Release: Opening July 15

2010-07-11T11:05:00.012-04:00

Installation views and photos from the opening reception can be seen here: New Prints Summer Heat Opening Reception

International Print Center New York presents New Prints 2010/Summer—Heat! in its gallery at 508 West 26^th Street, Room

5A, between 10^th and 11^th Avenues in Chelsea. On view from July 13 – August 13, the show consists of fifty-nine pieces by

fifty-two emerging to established artists, selected from a pool of nearly 1,000 submissions. A reception with the artists will be

held at IPCNY on Thursday, July 15, from 6-8 pm.

Please note that IPCNY relocated this spring to Room 5-A, 508 West 26th Street in Chelsea.

The Selections Committee for New Print 2010/Summer—Heat! included Carol Blake, Collector; John Caperton, Curator at The

Print Center in Philadelphia; Kathy Caraccio, Master Printer;

Deborah Chaney, Printmaker; Marc Lepson, Artist and

Professorat SUNY Purchase; and Barry Winiker, Corporate

Collector atPfizer Inc.

New Prints 2010/Summer – Heat! is the thirty-fifth presentation of IPCNY’s New Prints Program, a series of juried exhibitions

organized by IPCNY four times each year, featuring prints made

within the past twelve months by artists at all stages of their careers.

The exhibition represents a cross-section of some of the most

exceptional printmaking today while continuing IPCNY’s commitment

to provide an ongoing exhibition venue for contemporary prints and a

major source of information about artists working in the medium.

The complete artists’ list is as follows: Francine Kay Affourtit, Daniel Allegrucci, Brian Anderson, Carlos Andrade, Katie Baldwin,

Ray Beldner, Michael Bisbee, Brent Bond, Brian Borlaug, Kit Boyce, Meredith Broberg, Nathan Catlin, Ann Conrad, Jessica Coven, Mary DeVincentis, Erin Diebboll, Lauren Drescher, Joellyn Duesberry, Barbara Duval, Stella Ebner, Richard D. Finch, Rick Finn,

Tate Foley, Steven Ford, Eileen M. Foti, Paul Gentry, Lari Gibbons, Rachel Gross, Melissa Harshman, Yuji Hiratsuka, Tom Huck,

Anna Hutchings, Maho Kino, Anthony Lazorko, Michael Litzau, Veronica OKeefe, Serena Perrone, Jenny Robinson, Rosa Ruey,

Ron Rumford, Justin Sanz, James Siena, Geo Sipp, Laurie Sloan, Fred Stonehouse, Julia Talcott, Michael Torlen, Patty Tyrol, Daryl Vocat, Maureen Warren, Ella Weber, and Tammy Wofsey.

Highlights of New Prints 2010/Summer – Heat! include: Justin Sanz's For a Few Dollars More, an oil-based monoprint of a colorful

Clint Eastwood-like figure set in a monochromatic western landscape; Serena Perrone's skillful layering of woodcut, silverpoint,

goldpoint, watercolor, pen and ink on Okawara paper, Through the Periscope; Michael Bisbee's self-published untitled prints, described

as shotgun-blasted imprinted oil on paper; and James Siena's mesmerizing The Woods, an etching, aquatint and spitbite print.

In addition to the many independent artists included in this show, the presses, publishers and printshops represented are: Anchor Graphics at Columbia College Chicago; Cade Tompkins Editions; Center for Contemporary Printmaking; Double Vision; Electric Works San Francisco; Lawrence Lithography Workshop; Lower East Side Printshop; Manneken Press; Milestone Graphics; Plotzing Press; R D Finch Workshop; and Santo Press.

With rare exceptions, prints included in IPCNY's New Prints shows are for sale. IPCNY refers potential purchasers directly to the artist, publisher, or gallery supplying the print. IPCNY requires no commission on sales.

The New Prints Program is the core of IPCNY’s exhibition programming. New Prints 2000 launched the program in September 2000. To date, these thirty-five exhibitions have included work from some 1000 artists and over 200 presses across the country and abroad.

International Print Center New York is a non-profit institution founded to promote the greater appreciation and understanding

of the fine art print worldwide. Through innovative programming, it fosters a climate for the enjoyment, examination and serious

study of artists' prints – from the old master to the contemporary. IPCNY offers its members a program of workshop and gallery visits, and has established an informational website and Information Desk available to the public at the gallery. IPCNY depends

upon public and private donations to support its programs.

The New Prints Program is funded in part with public funds from the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts—a state agency, and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.

IPCNY is grateful to the following foundations for their generous support which makes our programming possible: The Lily Auchincloss Foundation, Deborah Loeb Brice Foundation, The Edward John Noble Foundation, The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation, The Hess Foundation, the Robert Lehman Foundation, The Reed Foundation, The Arthur Ross Foundation, and The Felicia Fund.

Gallery hours through July are 11- 6 pm, Monday - Friday. For additional information, call (212) 989-5090 or visit IPCNY's website www.ipcny.org. New Prints 2010/Summer – Heat! will be posted and documented on the site together with prior exhibitions presented

by IPCNY. For further information regarding this exhibition, or information about IPCNY's Exhibitions Touring Program, please contact Kendra Sullivan at kendra@ipcny.org.

***

Image: Erin Diebboll, Toad Pond, 2010, Etching, mezzotint, chine colle, Edition, Trial Proof, 35 1/2 x 27 1/2", Published by the Artist, Created through the Keyholder Residency program at the Lower East Side Print shop, Courtesy of the Artist.

IPCNY New Prints 2010/Summer: Heat!

2010-06-27T14:20:00.005-04:00

Photo credit: IPCNY

I'd like to let you all know about another upcoming exhibition- my work has been chosen for inclusion in New Prints 2010/Summer: Heat!, the thirty-sixth presentation of International Print Center New York’s New PrintsProgram, in their Chelsea Gallery. The show opens at IPCNY on July 13thand runs through August 13th, 2010. The Opening and Artists Reception will be on Thursday, July 15th. The IPCNY is located at 508 West 26th Street, Rm. 5A, New York, New York, 10001. Their summer gallery hours are Monday-Friday, 11-6.

Here's a preliminary press release from IPCNY:

IPCNY received approximately 1,200 submissions from artists and presses worldwide. Out of this vast array of work, Marc Lepson, Artist; Deborah Chaney, Artist & Printer, Kathy Carraccio, Artist & Founder, K. Caraccio Printmaking Studio; John Caperton, Curator, The Print Center; Barry Winiker, Corporate Art Advisor, Curator; and Carol Blake, Artist & Collector, chose works by 52 artists.

The complete artists’ list for New Prints 2010/Summer: Heat! is as follows: Francine Kay Affourtit, Daniel Allegrucci, Brian Anderson, Carlos Andrade, Katie Baldwin, Ray Beldner, Michael Bisbee, Brent Bond, Brian Borlaug, Kit Boyce, Meredith Broberg, Nathan Catlin, Ann Conrad, Jessica Coven, Mary DeVincentis, Erin Diebboll, Lauren Drescher, Joellyn Duesberry, Barbara Duval, Stella Ebner, Richard D. Finch, Rick Finn, Tate Foley, Steven Ford, Eileen M. Foti, Paul Gentry, Lari Gobbons, Rachel Gross, Melissa Harshman, Yuji Hiratsuka, Tom Huck, Anna Hutchings, Maho Kino, Anthony Lazorko, Michael Litzau, Veronica O’Keefe, Serena Perrone, Jenny Robinson, Rosa Ruey, Ron Rumford, Justin Sanz, James Siena, Geo Sipp, Laurie Sloan, Fred Stonehouse, Julia Talcott, Michael Torlen, Patty Tyrol, Daryl Vocat, Maureen Warren, Ella Weber, and Tammy Wofsey.

I'll be missing this opening as well as the concurrent show in Chicago (Category: Printmaking, at Woman Made Gallery) as I'll be at the Vermont Studio Center, but I hope that if any of you are in Chicago or New York this summer, you'll stop by to see these two great shows!

Category: Printmaking

2010-06-16T17:44:00.007-04:00

As I prepare to head up to Vermont for my July month-long residency at the Vermont Studio Center, I want to let you all know about a group show that will be taking place in Chicago while I'm gone. The show is called "Category: Printmaking" and it will be at Woman Made Gallery in Chicago from July 9th through August 26th. Opening reception is July 9th, 6-9 p.m. I unfortunately won't be there but I invite those of you in the Chicago area to stop by and let me know how it went!
This is an exhibition of printmakers whose works challenge the boundaries of traditional handprint media, including intaglio, lithography, relief, monoprint and silkscreen.

Artists Represented:
Patricia Bellan-Gillen, Eryn Blaser, Virginia Bradley, Elizabeth Busey, Jessi Cerutti, Liz DeBellis, Angela Duclos, Sandra C. Fernandez, Debra Fisher, JenClare Gawaran, Jessika Hamilton, Zoe Hawk, Jennifer Hines, Delanie Jenkins, Diana Kast, Linda Kelen, Heather Kelly, Anna Kenar, Eveline Kolijn, Lea Basile Lazarus, Alisha McCurdy, Michelle Murillo, Kelly Nelson, PD Packard, Sandra Perlow, Serena Perrone, Kathy Puzey, Dora Lisa Rosenbaum, Carol Sanchez, Emily Stokes, DeeAnne Wagner, Laura Widmer, Christina Yesenofski, Jennifer Yorke.

Juror: Debora Wood
Debora Wood is senior curator at the Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art, Northwestern University, where she takes the leading role in developing the Museum’s exhibitions and collections. She has been at the Block Museum since 1999 and her area of focus is in twentieth-century art and the history and study of prints.

Wood has a BFA from Cornell University and an MFA in printmaking from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is author of the exhibition catalogues for Imaging by Numbers (2008) and Marion Mahony Griffin (2005), and contributing author to catalogue Paths to the Press: Printmaking and American Women Artists, 1910–1960 (2006).

Woman Made Gallery is located at 685 North Milwaukee Avenue, Chicago, IL 60642. Phone: 312-738-0400

Gallery Hours:

Wednesday, Thursday & Friday: 12 noon to 7 pm
Saturday: 12 noon to 4 pm

Sunday: 12 noon to 4 pm

By Land By Sea, Installation

2010-06-16T17:04:00.005-04:00

Thank you to everyone who made it to the exhibition "By Land, By Sea" at the Center for Emerging Visual Artists! The show has gotten a great reception and has actually been extended by a few days. If you haven't seen it yet, you've still got time - it will be up through the 23rd of June. For those who won't be able to stop in, I'm posting some installation shots here.

By Land By Sea

2010-05-18T18:59:00.008-04:00

I'm happy to announce my upcoming solo show, By Land By Sea, an Alumni Solo Exhibition at the Center for Emerging Visual Artists. The show runs June 1 - 18th, with an opening reception and artist talk on June 3rd from 5:00 - 7:00 pm. The Center for Emerging Visual Artists is located at 1521 Locust, lower level.

The work on view in this show includes pieces from the series "In the Realm of Reverie, I-VII", "Fictive Homelands", and "Through the Periscope".

The next show will be Category: Printmaking, a group exhibition Juried by Debora Wood, at Woman Made Gallery in Chicago. The show runs from July 9 through August 26 with an opening reception July 9, 6:00-9:00 pm. Woman Made Gallery is located at 685 N. Milwaukee Avenue, Chicago, IL. It would be great if I could make it up for the show sometime in August but I'll have to see how things go!

Also in July I am excited to head to the Vermont Studio Center in Johnson, Vermont, for a month-long Artist Residency. It will be a huge change of scenery and something totally new for me. I expect to be doing drypoints and engravings while I'm there.

I will be working on a new body of work during that time, and I'm looking forward to this new experience and this opportunity for some extremely focused work time.

I will then be heading to St. Louis for the month of September where I will be an artist-in-residence at All Along Press. I'm really excited to spend an extended period of time in St. Louis for a change and I'm looking forward to working with All Along Press and reconnecting with my hometown roots! More details will follow!

Upcoming Exhibitions in March

2010-02-28T21:31:00.016-05:00

Hi Everyone! As we make our way into March, a few more events are coming up very soon. There is still time to see Printable at Seraphin Gallery before it comes down March 9th. If you can't make it, click here to visit one of my favorite blogs, Printeresting, to see some images of the great pieces in that show!

New Work

I've been busily working and just completed a new edition of 30 prints for the Mark/Remarque invitational portfolio that will be on view later this month. My contribution to the portfolio is a drypoint with engraving and chine colle. The print is 16"x 20" and printed on Rives BFK soft grey paper. A detail from the piece is to the right.

1st Annual Little Berlin Print Invitational

The first upcoming event is the 1st Annual Little Berlin Print Invitational, a Philagrafika 2010 Independent Project, which runs from Friday March 5th and runs through March 27th.

Little Berlin

119 W. Montgomery Avenue, Philadelphia

Open Saturdays 12-5 pm or by appointment:

610.308.0579

Opening Reception: Friday March 5, 6-10 pm

Open House: Friday March 26, 6-10 pm

Participating artists: Kabuya Bowens, Vicky Chen, Stella Ebner, Juan Garcia, Amelia Hankin, Morgan Hill, Flemming Jeffries, Kate Copeland, Tim Pannell, Serena Perrone, Alice Thompson, and Tanya Ziniewicz.

Next is Mark/Remarque: A Collaborative Portfolio and Other Work by Philadelphia Printmakers. This is an invitational portfolio put together by Rochelle Toner as part of the 2010 Southern Graphics Council being held in Philadelphia, and Philagrafika 2010.

Artists included in the portfolio are:

Cynthia Back, Katie Baldwin, Nancy Citrino, Joan Wadleigh Curran, Daniel Dallman, Kip Deeds, Amze Emmons, Donald Forsythe, Chris Hartshorne, Daniel Heyman, Richard Hricko, Sarah McEneaney, Matthew Neff, Caitlin Perkins, Serena Perrone, Mary Phelan, Celia Reisman, Tony Rosati, Ron Rumford, Carrie Scanga, Bill Scott, Patty Smith, Hester Stinnett, Evan Summer, Shelley Thorstensen, Rochelle Toner, John Williams, and Eva Wylie

Mark/Remarque Invitational Portfolio at the Free Library of Philadelphia

The portfolio will debut at the Free Library of Philadelphia's 11th Robert F. Looney Memorial Event on Friday, March 19th. This event includes a free lecture, "Prints and Printmaking in the 21st Century", by Timothy Rub, the George D. Widener Director and Chief Executive Officer, The Philadelphia Museum of Art. The lecture begins at 6 pm and is followed by a ticketed reception and silent auction at 7 pm. For more information on the Robert F. Looney Memorial Event, click here. The portfolio exhibition is free and open to the public, and will run from March 19th through June 20th.

Mark/Remarque Invitational Portfolio at the Crane Arts Center

The portfolio will then be on view at the Crane Arts Center during the Southern Graphics Council, running March 24-27. Viewing at the Crane Arts Center will be 12-6 pm Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday, with an opening from 6-9 pm on Friday March 26th. The Crane Arts Center is located at 1400 North American Street. For a calendar and more information on the other great events and portfolios going on during that week, visit the Southern Graphics Council Philadelphia.

Biennial Baltimore Fair for Contemporary Prints and New Editions at the Baltimore Museum of Art

Finally, at the end of the month will be the Biennial Baltimore Fair for Contemporary Prints and New Editions at the Baltimore Museum of Art. This biennial event will feature limited-edition portfolios and single-image prints from 14 major contemporary art dealers, galleries, and presses from around the country.

The participants this year are:

Center Street Studio, Milton, MA
Cade Tompkins Editions • Projects, Providence, RI
Charles M. Young Fine Prints & Drawings LLC, Portland, CT
Gallery Joe, Philadelphia, PA
MICA Works on Paper, Baltimore, MD
Tandem Press, Madison, WI
Goya Contemporary & Goya-Girl Press, Baltimore, MD
Gemini G.E.L. at Joni Moysant Weyl, New York, NY
Dolphin Press & Print, Baltimore, MD
Jungle Press, Brooklyn, NY
Robert Brown Gallery, Washington, DC
G.W. Einstein Company, Inc., New York, NY
VanDeb Editions, New York, NY
Highpoint Editions, Minneapolis, MN

My work will be shown by Cade Tompkins Editions. The Fair runs March 27-28th. For more information about the events of the fair including tours and lectures, click here. There are so many fantastic artists involved in all of these events, I hope some of you can make it! It's been a busy year so far and there's more to come!

Through the Periscope

2010-02-02T16:51:00.009-05:00

Here is the first piece in the series Through the Periscope, completed in January 2010. This piece is currently on view at Seraphin Gallery in Philadelphia. Click here for images from the show. It is a triptych that can be collapsed and expanded as shown here, executed in woodcut with watercolor, silverpoint, pen and ink on Japanese mulberry paper, measuring four feet by six feet in it's fully expanded state.

I hope some of you will get a chance to visit Seraphin during the duration of the show; otherwise it will also be on view beginning in March at Little Berlin in Philadelphia.

Philagrafika 2010 and Independent Projects

2009-12-25T23:56:00.021-05:00

Happy New Year to all! I am gearing up for the new year and a host of shows that are coming up soon, as I participate in Philagrafika 2010.Philagrafika 2010 is the first presentation of what will become a recurring event in Philadelphia, celebrating the role of print in contemporary artistic practice.

Involving more than 300 artists at more than 80 venues throughout the city, Philagrafika 2010 will be one of the largest art events in the United States and the world’s most important print-related exposition. Prominent museums and cultural institutions across Philadelphia are participating in Philagrafika 2010, offering regional, national and international audiences the opportunity to see contemporary art that references printmaking in dynamic, unexpected ways and to experience the rich cultural life of the city in the process. The Philagrafika 2010 festival is the result of more than five years of planning by a group of enthusiastic and committed individuals who have mobilized the entire community around a common interest. The Artistic Director and the members of the curatorial team traveled extensively across the country and across continents, visiting studios, print shops, biennials and other art events in search of artists to include. And the administrative staff of Philagrafika, the Artistic Director and the curatorial team have worked closely with local institutions in planning and implementing a wide range of exhibitions, public programs and events, resulting in a citywide collective effort, which appropriately reflects the collaborative nature of printmaking itself.

The festival is divided into 3 components:

The Graphic Unconscious is the core exhibition organized by the Artistic Director and the curatorial team. Works by 35 artists from 18 countries will be displayed across five venues: Moore College of Art & Design; Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA); Philadelphia Museum of Art; The Print Center; and Temple Gallery, Tyler School of Art, Temple University; with significant installations by different artists on view at each site.

Out of Print pairs five artists with five historic institutions in Philadelphia: the American Philosophical Society (APS) Museum; the Historical Society of Pennsylvania; the Independence Seaport Museum; the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, and the Rosenbach Museum & Library. Each artist created new work for the festival inspired by the extraordinary collection with which they were matched.

Independent Projects, organized by seventy-five additional cultural institutions in Philadelphia, include a huge variety of monographic, group, and thematic exhibitions in which the printed image plays a central role.

The Philagrafika 2010 festival contends that the printed image lies at the heart of contemporary art. Concepts of imprinting, multiplicity, reproduction, and seriality, as well as physically printed forms are frequently used by artists who do not think of themselves as printmakers. As artistic vocabularies have expanded and mixing media has become commonplace, artists have increasingly drawn from inherent characteristics of the print to achieve specific aesthetic and expressive goals.

The first show I'll be included in is a group show at Seraphin Gallery, called Printable: Prints Without Limits. The exhibition will focus on new and interesting ways the printing process can be pushed in the modern area. Artists include Brian Dickerson, Hiro Sakaguchi, Robert Goodman, Eric McDade, Victor Vazquez, Harry Bertoia, John Karpinski, Kelly Wallace, Joan Wadleigh Curran, D.S. Nicholas, Ken Mabrey, Rob Swainston, Anne Canfield, and Nancy Sophy. This will be the first showing of my new large-scale woodcut with silverpoint and goldpoint which is the first piece in a forthcoming series. Printable runs from January 29th through March 9th and is part of Philagrafika 2010's series of Independent Projects. The opening reception will be Friday, January 29th from 6 to 8 p.m.

Also opening January 29th is Selections from C.R. Ettinger Studio. Another of Philagrafika's Independent Projects, this show is hosted by The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. This exhibition features prints made between 2000 and 2010 by The C.R. Ettinger Studio, the Philadelphia print studio specializing in etchings. Included will be more than fifty works by approximately twenty-five contemporary artists who employ a cross-section of styles and techniques demonstrating the versatility of the etching medium today. The exhibition highlights the stylistic evolution of several artists as they explore the possibilities and forms of expression offered by printmaking while collaborating with Ettinger over a number of years. Straightforward etchings will be juxtaposed with numerous multi-media prints that successfully integrate new technology as an experimental tool while remaining true to the etching medium itself. The artists shown include: Kate Abercrombie, Astrid Bowlby, Emily Brown, Don Colley, Danielle Dimston, David Fertig, Daniel Heyman, Marilyn Holsing, Virgil Marti, Sarah McEneaney, Bruce Pollock, Celia Reisman, Bill Scott, Anne Seidman, William Smith, Kevin Strickland, Rochelle Toner, Neil Welliver, and Isaiah Zagar. The etching I made with Cindi in 2008 will be included in this exhibition which runs through April 18th. The opening reception is at PAFA on Saturday, January 30th from 6 to 9 p.m., the same evening as PAFA's opening reception for Philagrafika 2010.

Coming in March I will be included in numerous other Philagrafika satellite exhibitions, beginning with the 1st Annual Little Berlin Print Invitational, at Little Berlin.

Little Berlin is an artist-run collective and gallery space located in the North Philadelphia neighborhood of Kensington. Founded in 2007, it became a collective organization in March of 2009. This alternative space is dedicated to uniting members both in and outside the artistic community to engage in collaborations that further the discussion of how contemporary art is created and experienced. The 1st Annual Little Berlin Print Invitational will showcase over 30 artists working in Printmaking today. This inaugural exhibition will feature both traditional and digital processes and highlight the vital role the medium of printmaking plays in contemporary art. This exhibition will run from March 5th through the 27th.

I will be participating in a group portfolio of Philadelphia Printmakers in conjunction with the Southern Graphics Council and Philagrafika 2010, and it will be exhibited in various venues during Philagrafika. The first of those venues will be the Free Library of Philadelphia in an exhibit called One Theme/Thirty Prints: A Collaborative Portfolio by Philadelphia Printmakers. The other artists included are: Cindy Back, Katie Baldwin, Nancy Citrino, Joan Curran, Dan Dallmann, Kip Deeds, Amze Emmons, Don Forsythe, Chris Hartshorne, Richard Hricko, Daniel Heyman, Sarah McEneaney, Matthew Neff, Caitlin Perkins, Mary Phelan, Celia Reisman, Tony Rosati, Ron Rumford, Carrie Scanga, Bill Scott, Patty Smith, Hester Stinnett, Evan Summer, Shelley Thorstensen, Rochelle Toner, John Williams, and Eva Wylie. The portfolio will be on view from March 19th through June 18th.

Mid-March will bring the Southern Graphics Council conference to Philadelphia. This year's conference is "Mark:Remarque" and I am feverishly working on a new etching with woodcut to be included in the group portfolio, organized by Rochelle Toner and featuring the artists listed above. The conference runs from March 24th through the 27th and the portfolio will be on short-term display during the conference at both the Free Library and the Crane Arts Building.

I am also happy to announce that I've been accepted as a resident at the Vermont Studio Center for the entire month of July, so I am really going to enjoy some focused solitude after this wonderfully busy first half of 2010! I'm worried I might not want to leave...

Please visit the blog again soon - I will be posting images of the newest work and providing updates, as a few other projects are in the works!

Currently on View/Upcoming Exhibitions

2009-10-24T17:29:00.039-04:00

Greetings everyone! I hope this Fall finds all of you well! It is once again time for me to share with you a few upcoming exhibitions and events. The first is the E/AB Fair with Cade Tompkins Editions, which is coming up again very soon.

CADE TOMPKINS EDITIONS • PROJECTS

Cade Tompkins Editions specializes in prints, drawings, photographs and multiples by emerging, mid-career and established artists. New editions are available by Tayo Heuser, Beth Lipman, Jane Masters, Jürgen Partenheimer and Serena Perrone.

Artists represented include William Allen, William Anastasi, Victoria Crayhon, Lynne Harlow, Daniel Heyman, Tayo Heuser, Beth Lipman, Nate Nadeau, Jane Masters, Serena Perrone, Jessica Rosner, Aaron Siskind, Barbara Westermann.

Representing RISD Editions, Prints by : Gregory Amenoff, Dottie Attie, Enrique Chagoya, Linda Conner, Carl Fudge, Sam Gilliam, Kirsten Hassenfeld, Jim Isermann, Julia Jacquette, Yvonne Jacquette, Roberto Juarez, Jane Kent, Michael Krueger, Virgil Marti, Jürgen Partenheimer and Christopher Ulivo.

Editions of mine that will be shown include the woodcut series In the Realm of Reverie, 2005-2008, two versions of the etching In Our Cinematic Lives/Redux, and my recent new series of woodcuts with silverpoint and goldpoint on mylar, Fictive Homelands.

(above right: The Auditory Evidence of the World of Animals; left: In Our Cinematic Lives.)

EDITIONS/ARTISTS' BOOK FAIR

The 2009 Editions|Artists Book Fair will take place on Friday, 6 November to Sunday, 8 November.

Founded in 1998 by Susan Inglett of I.C. Editions and Brooke Alexander Editions, the Fair has grown in size and stature to become the premier showcase for contemporary publishers and dealers presenting the latest in prints, multiples and artists' books FREE to the public. The Editions|Artists Book Fair is well known for its vibrant energy and innovation thanks to over fifty exhibitors, presenting hundreds of artists representing New York, Tokyo, Johannesburg, Amsterdam, London, Paris and points in between. Today the fair is located at X Initiative/formerly Dia.

Opening Night Preview to Benefit the Annual Exhibition Fund at P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center: Thursday, 5 November, 6-9 PM. FREE to the Public: Friday - Sunday, 6 November-8 November 2009.

Hours: 11 AM - 7 PM Friday & Saturday; 11 AM - 4 PM Sunday.

Location:

X Initiative/Formerly Dia.
548 West 22nd Street, Between 10th & 11th Avenue. Map

RECENT ACQUISITIONS, SMITH COLLEGE MUSEUM OF ART

Also currently on view is A Day in November: Impending Loss, which is being shown in an exhibition of recent acquisitions by the Smith College Museum of Art, in Northampton, Massachusetts. This large-scale woodcut edition with hand-drawn silverpoint and goldpoint on frosted mylar was acquired by the permanent collection in early 2008, and also resides in the permanent collection of the Whitney Museum of American Art.

A Day in November: Impending Loss, 2006.

woodcut, silverpoint, goldpoint on frosted mylar, 48" x 72"

More updates will follow as I gear up for the upcoming Philagrafika 2010. New work will be included in shows at Seraphin Gallery, the Abington Art Center, PAFA, and with the Southern Graphics Council Philadelphia Portfolio during Philagrafika, January through April 2010. Also coming during that time will be the Baltimore Museum of Art's Biennial Contemporary Print Fair.

Hopefully some of you will be able to make it to a few of these events - I'd love to see you!

In Our Cinematic Lives Redux

2009-09-12T14:32:00.004-04:00

Redux, repost - These are the etchings I did with Cindi Ettinger last summer. The full-color etching was for Philagrafika's 2008 Invitational Portfolio that debuted in the Fall of 2008, and the black and white one is a separate little edition we pulled for fun after the fact. I decided to post both as the starker one has grown on me though I still love the lush deep blue of the original version. I titled the second version "Redux" in keeping with the cinematic theme and the notion of duality within the image itself. Redux is really striking in its own way. Cindi is a phenomenal printer!

In Our Cinematic Lives Redux, 2008 (second edition)

In Our Cinematic Lives, 2008 (first edition)

Fictive Homelands, 2009

2009-08-23T23:20:00.004-04:00

This series of woodcuts were created in the spring of 2009 and included in the exhibition Fictive Homelands. Woodcut, silverpoint, and goldpoint on frosted Mylar.

The Auditory Evidence of the World of Animals

Slaying the Shadow of Nemesis

In Desperate Search of the World of Plants

Blessing the Hunters of Fish

Escape from the End of the World

Solitude Sounds Like Tumbling Stones in the Water at Dusk

Point of Departure

In Our Cinematic Lives, 2008

2009-08-23T23:10:00.003-04:00

This etching is titled "In our Cinematic Lives". It was created for the Philagrafika 2008 Invitational Portfolio, and printed by the wonderful Cindi Ettinger. This 3-color, 2-plate etching involved hard ground line-etch, drypoint, aquatint, and a digital chine colle element, and was an edition of approximately 50.

In our Cinematic Lives, 2008

detail

Gallery in the Garden, 2008

2009-08-23T21:57:00.002-04:00

These images are of two installations I did at the 2008 Gallery in the Garden at the country home of Eileen Tognini.

The outdoor installation is centered around a pair of legs that I hand-built in ceramic and fired with red and black iron oxides. The found object elements are the vintage gown and bird cage suspended from the trees.

The indoor installation was a piece from the series In the Realm of Reverie titled Phantom Vessels and the Bastion of Memory. It was suspended in mid-air and divided an open loft-space, allowing light to pass through and viewers to see the translucent piece from the front and the reverse.

Photos courtesy Barros and Tognini.

Drawings and Paintings, 2007-2008

2009-08-23T21:39:00.005-04:00

These are mixed media works created between 2007 and 2008.

Mare Mosso, 2007

watercolor, pen and ink, gesso, silverpoint on Okawara

Mare Mosso detail, 2007

How to Leave a Country, 2008

pen and ink, gesso, oil on paper

Narcissus Blossoms in the Myth of London, 2008

pen and ink, gesso, oil on paper

Sebastien et Zoe Sans Mots, 2008

pen and ink, gesso, oil on paper

Refuge and the Twins, 2007

oil, charcoal, and graphite on panel (diptych)

Dreaming of Flying Fish, 2007

oil, charcoal, and graphite on panel (diptych)

RISD Sol Koffler Gallery, 2008

2009-08-23T19:36:00.006-04:00

These are views from my solo show at RISD's Sol Koffler Gallery in September, 2008. Photos courtesy Cade Tompkins Editions.