Premire of “Pressed and Pulled X”

By Erin Semple
Staff Writer

After being absent from our campus for over a year, the printmaking exhibition, “Pressed and Pulled X,” is back.
“Pressed and Pulled X” premiered Jan. 14 and will continue until Feb. 23 in Blackbridge Hall Gallery and The Museum and Archives of Georgia Education.
“‘Pressed and Pulled X’ has been featuring the best of America’s fine art printmakers for the past 10 years, and this year’s show is no exception,” said William Fisher, temporary assistant professor of art.
“Pressed and Pulled X” is a national juried printmaking exhibition. This show received about 300 entries, and 90 of those were chosen to be displayed. The entries came from all over the United States and Canada and include original prints by 52 American artists.
This is the 10th show, and according to Fisher, the ninth show was fall of 2000. Fisher took over the responsibility of this art show after the founder, Marc Snyder, left Georgia College & State University.
Carmon Colangelo, director of the Lamar Dodd School of Arts at the University of Georgia, is the juror of this exhibition.
This show contains the largest amount of works out of all of the past shows of “Pressed and Pulled X.” The works are examples of contemporary American art. The show includes silk screening, wood cut, lithography, etching, monoprint, handwork, digital imaging and book arts.
“I recognized a lot of the names that entered. There is work in here from graduate students to very well established artists,” said Fisher. “That was very nice to see.”
Printmaking is often thought of in terms of black and white, but a lot the works in this show feature color.
“I’m amazed at the vibrancy of these works. The colors are incredibly juicy. The works range from hyper-realistic, figurative and landscapes to non-representational abstract pieces,” said Fisher. “I think that makes for a really interesting show. All of the works are really playful and celebratory.”
The piece to the left is an example of the artwork on display for “Pressed and Pulled X.”
“Karen Kunc has sent work from Nebraska, exemplary of the high caliber of this year’s show. Her concerns with our relationship to nature, technology, and the nature of technology feel particularly urgent considering today’s state of affairs,” said Fisher. “The viewer may experience an odd pull between seduction, fear, and optimism when seeing her work.”
Nancy Jay, professor of painting, is also looking forward to this show.
“It is very exciting because there is so much color,” Jay said.
Although all of these works were created before the happenings of Sept. 11, the juror chose the pieces after that day. The events of Sept. 11 affect how the works are perceived.
“There are works that are appropriate to what is happening,” Fisher said.
All of the pieces are on sale, and this show is free and open to the public. If you have any questions, please contact William Fisher at 445-0808.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Dec 7 2001. Filed under Features. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry