Busman's Date Night - Print Zero Highlights

It was a good, hot night on Saturday for the opening of Print Zero's Print Exchange #7.  Dan and I started with dinner - Catfish Po'Boy, Brisket Sandwich, and ice cold margaritas - on the patio at Hudson, then headed up to the show.  As his fans would expect, Brian Lane (2nd from left) had found the perfect tee-shirt for the occasion and as promised, 227 prints in all manner of media, hung in the halls of Print Zero.  I find that in these occasions I am often drawn to non-woodcut prints.  Though I have a reasonable background in the history of all print media, more recently I've spent my print time considering the finer points of woodblock prints alone and the wide range of possibilities that the form offers print artists.  But when faced with dozens of stylistically different silkscreens, digital, and intaglio-based prints, I react much like the other people browsing the walls, "Wow! how did she do that?"  Also, its not often that you get to experience such a large and diverse group of prints in one close setting.  A few of my favorites below:

Carolyn J. Leicht.  Sidewalk Naturalist.  Screenprint

(Center) Wuon-Gean Ho.  Fractured Mask III.  Silkscreen.

Richard Repasky.  Vow-Murder, Death and Other Funny Things.  Photopolymer Intaglio

Bouchei Marina.  Untitled.  Collograph

Peter Foucault.  Hyperbola.  Found letterpress, digital relief

The dedication and amount of work that Print Zero founders, Brian Lane and Jeremy Cody have put into their print exchange is inspiring.  Lately I've also been talking to Richard Steiner, founder of the KIWA collection of contemporary Japanese woodblock prints and associated print exhibits in Kyoto, and there too I am struck by KIWA's success at shining a light on and effectively fostering the growth of moku hanga printmaking worldwide. Things like this come together a lot quicker than museum exhibits, and show us growth and trends in printmaking in a more raw, and I think sometimes more exciting way.  

(Second down on right) Annie Bissett.  Lost in Translation (Wampum).  Japanese woodblock print.