17 November, 2006

Since 2000: Printmaking Now


Since 2000: Printmaking Now

03.05.06 - 18.09.06
Museum of Modern Art, New York
MoMA - The Museum of Modern Art
11 West 53 StreetNY-10019 New York
USA
fon (212) 708-9400

Since 2000: Printmaking Now
Kurator: Judy Hecker

mit Sarah Morris, Andrea Zittel, John Currin, Matthew Barney, William Kentridge, Richard Tuttle, Elizabeth Peyton, Paul Chan, Kelley Walker, John Armleder, Swoon , Nicola Lopez

NEW YORK, May 2, 2006―The Museum of Modern Art presents Since 2000: Printmaking Now, the first exhibition at MoMA to be composed entirely of works created and acquired in the twenty-first century. The majority of the 89 works in this exhibition are on view at MoMA for the first time. Since 2000 highlights contemporary printmaking and the various ways in which artists have recently engaged and expanded upon the medium.

Included are prints by young artists new to the medium, such as Sarah Morris, Andrea Zittel, John Currin, and Matthew Barney, all of whom have found in printmaking a fresh lens through which to filter their subjects.

Also included are works by more established printmakers―William Kentridge, Richard Tuttle, and Elizabeth Peyton―who frequently return to the medium seeking new creative challenges.

Highlights include digital prints by Paul Chan and Kelley Walker, an experimental lithographic portfolio by John Armleder, three large-scale woodcuts and linoleum cuts by Swoon, and an expansive installation by Nicola L—pez.

Since 2000 is on view from May 3 through September 18, 2006, and is organized by Judy Hecker, Assistant Curator, Department of Prints and Illustrated Books,The Museum of Modern Art.

“Contemporary printmaking is flourishing, with artists turning to new digital approaches, renewing age-old techniques, and printing on and with alternative materials,” says Ms. Hecker. “This exhibition reflects the myriad printed formats artists engage with today, from the traditional intimacy of the singular sheet or book to expansive multipart projects and installations that run floor to ceiling and wall to wall.”

A Promising Tomorrow (2004), Nicola L—pez’s (American, b. 1975) room-size installation of screenprints and woodcuts, occupies two walls and part of the ceiling of the gallery. Conveying a cartoon-like, apocalyptic sense of modern urban living and infrastructure, this meandering installation includes over 150 sheets push-pinned to the wall. For this work, L—pez has constructed an exploding environment by layering printed images of radio towers, satellite dishes, tires, and skyscrapers in different colors and orientations.

Oversized cut-out figurative prints by Swoon (American, b. 1977) appear on three walls of the Paul J. Sachs Prints and Illustrated Books Galleries. Printmaking is essential to Swoon’spractice: the linoleum cut and woodcut techniques provide the bold lines needed for visibility as well as the capacity to replicate her large compositions with greater ease. Swoon’s work, which is often installed both indoors and on the street, combines figurative and narrative elements based on photographs of the communities and neighborhoods in which she lives and travels. For these three untitled works, made between 2003 and 2005, she depicts an adolescent riding a bike in Berlin, a New York construction worker, and a girl in Buenos Aires.

Known for his digital animation, Paul Chan (b. Hong Kong, 1973, lives New York) has made over 50 prints to date. He created the monumental digital print Worldwide trash (thanks for nothing Hegel) in 2004—a work with references to Samuel Beckett’s play Waiting for Godot, Francisco de Goya’s Disasters of War etchings, contemporary culture, and spirituality. Working in a digital mode with a mouse or drawing tablet, and the latest digital printing technology, Chan achieves great fluidity in color, scale, and detail.

Often working in multipart print series, Richard Tuttle (American, b. 1941) created the set of sixteen prints in Cloth (2002-05) over a four-year period. For the project, the artist began with one rudimentary element—in this case, fabric—and incorporated different pieces in each of the prints. Further enhanced by Tuttle’s modulated marks, gestures, and patterns, the set suggests an explosion of color, motif, and materials.

An expansive accordion-folded book, William Kentridge’s (South African, b. 1955) Portage (2000) comprises torn paper adhered to pages from a 1950s encyclopedia through the use of a printing press. Referencing events in his homeland of South Africa, Kentridge addresses the themes of history and displacement, with roaming groups of figures seemingly struggling to march while also morphing into objects.

John Armleder’s (Swiss, b. 1948) Supernova (2003) is a uniquely displayed experimental portfolio of nineteen lithographs and one monotype. Armleder has described this work as “an instant exhibition” that can be installed in any configuration and grouping. Here it is displayed in its entirety as a massive undulating form on a long wall. This project is based on the idea of the supernova, or exploding star that is believed to be the origin of the universe. Shown together, the prints, which combine and reuse the same basic compositions in different ways, generate dizzying patterns and pulsating rhythms that reflect the artist’s interest in creating environmental installations.

Pressetext

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Since 2000: Printmaking Now
The Paul J. Sachs Prints and Illustrated Books Galleries,
second floor
May 3–September 18, 2006


Contemporary printmaking is flourishing, with artists turning to new digital approaches, renewing age-old techniques, and printing on and with alternative materials and tools. Today artists use a myriad of printed formats, from the traditional intimacy of the singular sheet or book, to expansive multipart projects and installations that run floor to ceiling and wall to wall.

Since 2000: Printmaking Now demonstrates the vitality of current printmaking by showcasing works created since 2000 and acquired by the Department of Prints and Illustrated Books. The exhibition highlights projects never before seen at the Museum, by young artists new to printmaking as well as by more established figures.

Organized by Judy Hecker, Assistant Curator, Department of Prints and Illustrated Books, The Museum of Modern Art.

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