The Left Front

"Severe economic downturn. a dysfunctional government. Wall Street bailouts. Public protests and police clashes. A president accused of "socialism." Struggles for immigrant and minority rights. The threat of military conflict abroad and social turmoil at home:

                                                       The United States in the 1930's

(Quoted from John Paul Murphy's exhibition essay)

Art catnip for the printmaker and a timely premise for an exhibit. The Grey Art Gallery (100 Washington Square East, NYC) has this thought provoking exhibit up until April 4th.  Any similarities to our current political climate is entirely intentional I'm sure. This fresh look at the work of artist activists during the 30's gives an interesting backdrop for examining the canon of political art.

Mitchell Siporin, woodcut, Workers Family 1937

As Lisa Corrin, director of the Block Museum points out, many of the artists featured in this exhibit paid for their political beliefs by being blackballed or otherwise shunned by the art world.  Probably because of the non-commercial nature and political charged content many of the the works represented here were powerful images yet many of the artists name were unfamiliar to me.

Bernece Berkman, woodcut, Toward a Newer Life, 1937

Many of the works are by artists affiliated with either The John Reed Clubs or the American Artists' Congress. Referred to as the "Red Decade" the 1930's saw increased agitation for progressive social change among intellectuals, writers and visual artists. By the decades' end many artists had become disillusioned with their support of Communism under Stalin.

Aleksei Ilyich Kravchenko, wood engraving, On the Barricades, 1925

As co-curator Jill Bugajski points out in her essay; "...the budding USSR became an inadvertent role model for groups the world over seeking to elevate the working class and combat exploitative old-world monarchies or new-world industrial oligarchies."

The worst recession since the Great Depression led to the creation of the Occupy protest movements and a resurrection of our interest in how artists react to social climates of economic disparity, social injustice and corruptions of the political system.

The print as a mode political statement derives from their reproducibility and ease of dissemination into "public" hands. The art on display at the Grey Art Gallery is both sobering and yet full of optimism that it has the power to change society.

The Left Front: Radical Art in the "Red Decade," 1929-1940 in on view through April 4, 2015 at the Grey Art Gallery/New York University, 100 Washington Square East, NYC.

Exhibition Link

Icarus

Icarus - woodcut - 48" x 32" ©2015 William Evertson

I have several inspirations for my interpretation of the Icarus story.  The first is the painting by Pieter Bruegal, Landscape with the Fall of Icarus. (attribution is regarded as doubtful by some)

In Greek mythology, Icarus succeeded in flying, with wings made by his father Daedalus, using feathers secured with wax. Ignoring his father's warnings, Icarus chose to fly too close to the sun, melting the wax, and fell into the sea and drowned. In this painting his legs can be seen in the water just below the ship. There is also a Flemish proverb (of the sort imaged in other works by Bruegel): "And the farmer continued to plough..." (En de boer ... hij ploegde voort") pointing out the ignorance of people to fellow men's suffering.[

Detail from painting above. The fisherman as well as the shepherd and plowman continue to work oblivious to the plight of Icarus.

My second inspiration is the poem by William Carlos Williams also entitled Landscape with the Fall of Icarus.

According to Brueghel

when Icarus fell

it was spring

a farmer was ploughing

his field

the whole pageantry

of the year was

awake tingling

near

the edge of the sea

concerned 

with itself

sweating in the sun

that melted

the wings’ wax

unsignificantly

off the coast

there was

a splash quite unnoticed

this was

Icarus drowning

This piece is a first for me as the image was worked out as I carved. I began by direct sketching on the cherry plywood instead of my usual method of transferring a drawing on paper that I carve through. Perhaps this is my instance of trying to fly close to the sun but it was my attempt at a looser and more direct relationship to the wood. This image below show a preliminary position for the figure of Icarus in his relation to the wings, sun and waves.

First sketch and beginning the carving of the feathers.

Detail of the feathers

The only detail that kept changing over the course of the two to three weeks of carving was the figure of Icarus and the position of the sun. 

Eventually, the head and hand position became more obvious during the carving of the waves. 

Finished carving

Copies of the edition drying in the studio.

Big Ink

© William Evertson 2014 - As printed during BIG INK

Back in March of this year I sketched out a piece in pastels that became the basis for the large woodcut I recently completed for BIG INK.  BIG INK was a two day printing event for invited artists organized by Lyell Castonguay at Zea Mays Printmaking in Florence, MA. (see links for Zea Mays and Lyell at the bottom)

Twelve artists who work with large scale woodcuts were invited to use the 42″ x 70″ Takach etching press in the Annex Studio. Each artist would make three prints, two for their portfolios and one for future BIG INK exhibits.

"Protect Yourself" Sketch from March 2014 - © William Evertson

This piece developed from the phrase "Life is a Bowl of Cherries" which I discussed in an earlier post concerning another version of this work HERE.  I'll speak more to the inspiration at the end of this post.

Detail of the block for Bird on a Wire

The planning for the BIG INK piece which is 32" x 44" began with a small 11" x 17" study block since I rarely print only in one color and the event was for single black ink pieces only. I carved this small block in about a day and it gave me an idea how long the larger more detailed piece would take. (about three weeks)

Finished print, Bird on a Wire - © William Evertson 2014

The original pastel was 16" x 22" so I created a  full size ink drawing on a thin paper to be glued to the cherry plywood. The drawing is pasted face down and I carve right through the paper. You will see from the finished block and print that the drawing is only a guide. Over the course of three weeks the process of carving resulted in some changes and additions.  

Black ink and wash drawing before gluing to the block

Early progress on the block

Similar detail to the Bird on a Wire trial piece

The storm clouds in the upper portion inspired the waves for the lower portion

The title is carved into the block "Life is a Bowl of Cherries. Protect Yourself with Essential Geometries

Finished block before inking

BIG Ink printing day at Zea Mays began on Sunday, June 15th with five of the selected artists working together to pull the oversize prints.  

The artist, the print and the block

The genesis of the work occurred to me as I watched one of the morning news shows, or what passes for news since we seem to have disasters, political opinion formation, the lives of celebrities vying with the the feel good antics of the hosts to start our days. The jumps from the latest school shooting to puff pieces on Kim Kardashian setting her wedding date; from banks once again making record profits to celebrity chief making a lo-cal dishes to get their celebrity client ready for the red carpet made me wish for a magic circle of protection. A mandala to ward off our contemporary barrage of bedevilments. A second meaning also crept in with my wife in the midst of chemotherapy and well wishers advising the power of positive thinking. Thanks, but there's also something to be said for screaming, "life isn't fair" every once in a while.

Many thanks to Lyell Castonguay for organizing the event and artists and to Zea Mays Printmaking for providing the facilities!

Links:
Zea Mays Printmaking
Lyell Castonguay
Flicker Photo set of print day

Life is a Bowl of Cherries

Bowl of Cherries_ woodcut_©William Evertson 2014

The latest piece to be completed in the studio is my woodblock, "Bowl of Cherries". The work evolved over several weeks and preliminary sketches and pastels.  Overall the piece evolved from the phrase Life is a bowl of cherries, which obviously is often used to mean the opposite. "Life is Just a Bowl of Cherries" was the title of a song by Lew Brown and Ray Henderson, sung by Ethel Merman in Scandals (1931).

Life is just a bowl of cherries; 

Don't make it serious; 

Life's too mysterious. 

You work, you save, you worry so, 

But you can't take your dough when you go, go, go. 

So keep repeating it's the berries; 

The strongest oak must fall. 

The sweet things in life 

To you were just loaned, 

So how can you lose what you've never owned? 

Life is just a bowl of cherries, 

So live and laugh at it all.   

My particular gripe lately has been the dismal state of our broadcast news. Currently our news seems to be all gloss and no substance, or sensationalized, or false equivalents, or formatted with agenda.....and heavily seasoned with bowl of cherry thoughts.

Life is a Bowl of Cherries. Protect Yourself with Essential Geometries  ©William Evertson 2014

My first work on this topic was a pastel. I gave it the slightly longer title of "Life is a Bowl of Cherries. Protect Yourself with Essential Geometries." Essential geometries and what they would mean is deliberately left to the viewer because I have no answers what will finally push us to more compassion.

When I decided to move this idea to the woodcut format I also wanted to simplify and refine the visual.  My pastel was a nice complex piece and a stand alone work. For the graphic version I wanted to further distill elements that made up the idea.

Pencil sketch with watercolor overlay

  Inking the sketch

Carving the key block

First print pulled from key block

Originating from the same place as the pastel but very different look.

The Tempest

The Tempest - © William Evertson - Woodcut 20" x 60"

"Full fathom five thy father lies;

Of his bones are coral made;

Those are pearls that were his eyes:

Nothing of him that doth fade

But doth suffer a sea-change

Into something rich and strange.

Sea-nymphs hourly ring his knell."

Ariel's song from The Tempest by William Shakespeare 

Two months ago (mid November) I began another large format woodcut based on digital images first presented in Atlanta as part of the Billboard Project.  Three trial proofs gave me the correct color combinations and my first AP is pictured above .

The piece is loosely inspired by a scene from Shakespeare's play of the same name. Ariel, the spirit helper of Prospero summons the tempest.  Music, magic and water complete my imagery.  

Six blocks are used to construct this piece. One background block, two for water, two for Ariel and one for the linear sweep of the music.

Six panels from The Tempest

Bokashi (gradations) are used extensively on all panels.  The background panel alone required 12 inkings to build the sky.  These prints are too large for the use of a kento registration system.  Instead I trap the upper edge of the paper and flip the paper on and off the blocks as they are inked.

Building the background colors.

  

2013 North American Print Biennial

The 2013 North American Print Biennial runs through Dec. 20th.

808 Gallery, 808 Commonwealth Ave, Boston

Juror Denis Michael Jon, Associate Curator of the Minneapolis Institute of Arts selected prints from a rather large pool of 900 contemporary artists and considered over 2400 works for inclusion into this edition of the Biennial.  As an artist under consideration when we are not included we tend to shrug off rejection and move on with our work but when our work is selected we tend to think of the curator as possessing a keen eye indeed to recognize our genius.

Since a good deal of my time is spent on proposals, residency applications and grants I receive rejection emails often enough that I almost overlooked the one notifying me of inclusion in this years Biennial. I think it was only after hearing Jon's lecture prior to the opening of the Biennial that I realized the daunting task of coming up with 135 works representative of contemporary printmaking.

Additionally, Jon's lecture helped solidify some of the problems I have with identifying with the description "Printmaker". I've always thought of myself of artist first and at any one time may have works in progress that span a variety of media. Interestingly enough Jons' spoke of selecting works that not only were representative of the various techniques of printmaking but also looked for pieces that help expand the definitions.  If I'm gleaning his context, it is one of recognizing some push back of artists against print based works being considered a secondary or lesser discipline due to their nature as multiple originals, smaller and generally grounded on paper.

The same qualities that may make a work appeal to young collectors or a wider audience acts as a double edge sword as a marginalizing factor in an art market driven by the unique, very large and very expensive.  Boston Universities 808 Gallery was a large venue that provided space for artists who were pushing scale and working with more sculptural forms.

First view of the Biennial

Jon's selections for the 2013 Biennial included both examples of technical mastery and experimental.

Stephen McMillan - Misty Morning - aquatint

Philip Laber - House of Cards - intaglio and inkjet

If the crowds at the opening were any indication, works on paper and the continuing evolution of printmaking is still prized.  As pointed out by Jons' in his opening remarks; innovation, risk taking and the ability of non specialized artists making use of new technologies to make surprising strides in re-defining the print is evident in this years Biennial. 

Denis Michael Jon - Curator Profile link

Slideshow link of 2013 North American Print Biennial

Biennial Link - gallery directions, hours 

Photobooth Kabuki at the 2013 North American Print Biennial

Fantastic Garden

Fantastic Garden - Project Director and Master Printer Maria Arango Diener

One of the nicest Kickstarter rewards I ever received arrived yesterday from printmaker Maria Arango Diener. Back in August my blog post "Carving Little Things" mentioned her Fantastic Garden project and the small woodblock I contributed. My reward for carving the small block plus a small Kickstarter contribution are four exquisitely printed panels that make up this monumental collaborative puzzle print.

Maria has co-ordinated 92 artists (no small feat) in the creation of these four panels, each 22" x 30' that make up the garden.

From Maria's project description:

"Briefly, a Monumental Puzzle Print is a large design composed of 'puzzle pieces", each of which is designed and carved by a unique artist under a common theme.  The project director designs, cuts the wood into puzzle-like pieces, then sends the pieces to participant artists; they carve their own little design and send the tiny piece back.  Then the director assembles the carved pieces.  The entire design, is printed as a woodcut print after the puzzle is reassembled and finally each participant receives a huge print encompassing the entire design."

Overall the resulting print looks meticulously planned in every detail belying the fact that none of the artists knew where in the overall design their piece would rest nor what their neighbors would create. Maria's work on the background and areas surrounding each piece boldly unites the garden theme carved by the individual artists.

My Carp block is the top right piece.

Maria has also provided delightful supporting material with the print complete with edition information for collectors and maps for locating the various artists.  A project catalogue with the print and additional artist information is due shortly.

For more on the Fantastic Garden Monumental Puzzle Print and printmaker Maria Arango Diener please visit her (fantastic) website - 1000 Woodcuts

Chelsea Wrap Up

Photo of Tipping Point in Chelsea, NYC during the High Line Open Studios
Woodblock print- 24" x 80"

It's bigger, it's looser, it got a great reception during the High Line Open Studios Chelsea.  It was great to see Tipping Point framed and on a wall with some breathing space.

High Line Open Studios ran last weekend Oct. 18th, 19th and 20th in the Chelsea gallery district of NYC with 50 plus artists opening their studios and project spaces to the public.

My project space is a small subdivision of Ayn Choi's Gallery 304/ASC Projects in the Chelsea Arts Building at 526 W. 26th St. in NYC.  In the picture above I've got both sides of that partition wall plus the rest of the alcove I'm standing in to the left.

Directly behind me is an older (c 2004) digital collage Stamp Collector.  The space is large enough that I was able to exhibit many of my latest works plus several older pieces that show the transition of my interest in transparency, imagery overlap and layering from digital pigment prints to a more physically robust woodblock technique. 

Turn out was fantastic with several hundred visitors each day.  Most I was able to introduce to my art for the first time and some contacts via social media I was able to meet in real life for the first time. 

Artist George Rodart looking at Moses; another of my earlier digital collages on view.  Most of my digital collage pieces were created ten years earlier when Photoshop was a much newer tool for artists. Although I began the process of learning woodblock techniques around the same time, it's only been in the last couple of years that it's become a focal point of my art.  Although my concerns with layering of imagery remains the same in woodblock, I have an increased interest with the physicality of the surface of the paper.  

The Photobooth Kabuki series received a lot of positive attention; including this one I'm posing with that is included in the North American Print Biennial.