An ancient practice that first came to be around AD 105 in China, printmaking’s preciousness is perhaps hard to grasp in a world where image reproduction and sharing are not rare or difficult to obtain.
It’s a process, however, that remains incredibly impressive. The current exhibition “The Contemporary Print” is one part of the effort to increase visibility in Austin.
ICOSA, the artist collective and nonprofit space residing in Canopy (916 Springdale), is currently hosting the show in collaboration with PrintAustin. “The Contemporary Print” is PrintAustin’s annual juried exhibit that bestows a comprehensive look into fine art printmaking today. The sample of 29 artists, diverse in their messaging and technical construction, creates a presentation that indicates the innovation, radicalism, and beauty of contemporary printmaking.
For 10 years, PrintAustin has worked to broaden appreciation for the form. The artist-run nonprofit promotes printmakers and their creations during a month-long festival running from January 19 through February 17. “The Contemporary Print” marks just one part of the enriching community programming that also includes artist talks, panels, printmaking demonstrations, a fair, and other print-centric events.
Not to be confused with the digital printing process so commonplace in our everyday life, original printmaking entails producing images on a matrix – commonly metal, stone, or wood – and transferring them onto another surface – typically paper or fabric. Constructing a print is a complex, multi-step process that demands creativity, organization, physical labor, and precision from the artist.
“Works in ‘The Contemporary Print’ demonstrate the dynamic and fluid nature of printmaking happening today, offering distinct styles and techniques that give way for diverse narratives,” shares the organizers. “While some artists find inspiration in their experiences of identity, immigration, and the human condition, others focus on a technical dialogue, drawing from their individual practice in other mediums as it translates into the printmaking language.”
Mark Pascale, the 2024 show’s juror, is a seasoned lithographer and curator who identified a group of makers possessing particularly intriguing points of view. This year’s featured artists include Ron Abram, Curtis Bartone, Samantha Buchanan, Anissa Cavazos, Kyle Chaput, Christopher Daniggelis, Belinda Del Pesco, Justin Diggle, L J Douglas, Matthew Egan, Jenie Gao, Anita Giraldo, Jose Gonzalez, Daryl Howard, Marcus Howell, Joseph Lupo, Nathan Meltz, Samantha Mendoza, Emmett Merrill, Kristina Paabus, Adrian Rodriguez, Cody Scrivner, Merrill Shatzman, Egor Shokoladov, Barbara Lane Tharas, Mark Walley, Cathy Weiss, Abigail West, and Sihan Zhu.
The traditional techniques incorporated in “The Contemporary Print” include lithography, relief, intaglio, silk screen, and monotype. Just from appearances, it can be difficult to ascertain what exactly makes a print so different from a drawing or painting. However, each printmaking practice is uniquely physical and layered, requiring enormous dexterity and patience. In the exhibition’s catalog, the artists share musings on their relationship to their technique, illustrating how the complexities of the process are very much a part of inspiration and emotional outcome.
“Mark making serves not only as an image-making process, but as a form of meditation,” details artist Samantha Mendoza, who constructed the woodcut Tending to a Perishing Bloom. “I endeavor to navigate the spectrum of the beautiful and the terrible tapestry of life.”
The utilization of the different methods manifests in a display room that varies in colors, mediums, and feelings. There is no singular theme but rather a refreshing arrangement of artistic voices. Political statements, crude comics, macabre scenes, and blissful accounts of the natural world are among the range of distinct messaging laid out. In the melange of styles and aspirations, the most notable thread that seems to tie the different prints together is a tremendous devotion to the expression of one’s ideas.
This article appears in January 26 • 2024.