Technology impacts art of the print

At the risk of stating the obvious, technology has had, and will continue to have, a significant impact on all art forms. But how, exactly?

Gallery-goers attending “Ideas, Dialogue, Conscience” will come face to face with some examples of technology’s interface with printmaking.

In honor of the 2006 Southern Graphics Council (SGC) conference, held this year in Madison and hosted by the printmaking faculty, the special exhibition at the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters’ James Watrous Gallery at the Overture Center will connect the visual arts and science through the work of UW–Madison art department faculty.

Often as progressive in its visual art as in its politics, UW–Madison stepped into the vanguard of American printmaking in the aftermath of World War II. Wisconsin was not alone, of course — interest in printmaking swelled nationwide, especially on college campuses as the curricular emphasis shifted from training teachers of art to teaching students to be active workers in studios as well as classroom instructors.

However, the amazing assembly of UW faculty artists — Alfred Sessler, Warrington Colescott, Dean Meeker, James Watrous, Raymond Gloeckler and others — ensured that UW–Madison reached and maintained a position as a printmaking destination, exerting a profound influence on fine art prints for upward of 60 years.

The exhibition features current faculty who work mainly in multimedia formats, frequently combining traditional printing techniques with new technologies.

Several of the artists specialize in handcrafted books, for example. Jim Escalante, a bookmaker who is chair of the Department of Art, says he relishes the connections he is able to make with other artists in the act of creation.

“My attraction to book arts is based on both my love for language and my desire to make art in a collaborative manner,” he says.

Another bookmaker, Tracy Honn, director of the library system’s Silver Buckle Press, says that working on a small scale as she does can create a rare intimacy between the viewer and the viewed.

“I love the charged potency that is sometimes possible with a hand-sized object,” she says.

The Overture Center exhibition is not the only one in honor of the SGC conference, which began today (Wednesday, April 5) and ends Saturday, April 8. At Memorial Library alone, there will be an exhibition of books and paper collaboration by Sue Gosin and Dieu Donne Papermill and Press. The SGC has awarded Gosin its Printmaker Emerita Award for 2006. In the library’s second floor lobby will be postcard-sized works by UW alumni and alumnae who worked at Silver Buckle Press, which is dedicated to the history of printing. These artists now make books. The ninth floor Special Collections Room is hosting a display of books with moveable parts by Lothar Meggendorfer. Other exhibitions will be hosted by the Chazen Museum of Art, the Gallery of Design, and other venues on campus and in Madison.

The SGC is considered the country’s premier print organization. Its 2006 conference, “Genetic ImPrint,” will include lectures, discussions and demonstrations involving ways in which artists view biotechnology issues. Registration is required to attend the conference, although the exhibitions in connection with it are free and open to the public.

Details about the UW–Madison print faculty exhibition, which will be up until Sunday, May 21, are available from the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters.

An aluminum lithograph and mixed media by Jack Damer titled “Recon (Tank),” 2005, will be included in the exhibit “Ideas, Dialogue, Conscience” to be held In honor of the 2006 Southern Graphics Council conference. Hosted by UW–Madison printmaking faculty, the special exhibition will connect the visual arts and science.