UW-Parkside News: UW-Parkside hosts 22nd National Small Print Show

UW-Parkside hosts 22nd National Small Print Show

The University of Wisconsin-Parkside serves as the focal point for the nation's top printmakers during the 22nd Parkside National Small Print Exhibition. Featuring more than 120 prints each with no dimension exceeding 18 inches, this month-long exhibition begins Sunday, Jan. 18 with the opening reception and continues through Thursday, Feb. 19, 2009, in the Communication Arts Gallery.

UW-Parkside Art Professor Doug DeVinny, the show's director since it began in 1988, also selected the prints for this year's show. It was the first time DeVinny has served as the exhibition's juror. And it was the last because he plans to retire at the end of the academic year. Although he laughingly called himself "a terribly inept juror," he likes the prints that were selected.

"It's a pretty solid show," DeVinny said. "I think it presents a lot of new directions (in print making). I was especially critical of conceptual issues. I asked: 'Are there still good ideas out there' and there certainly are. I looked for exquisite technical process and there are examples of that."

Combing through more than 600 prints submitted by artists from across the country, DeVinny selected 123 pieces for public viewing. In addition to prints by artists with local ties like Richard Berns and Edwin Kalke of Racine, former Racine resident Margaret Suchland, and nearly a dozen others from Wisconsin, the creativity of printmakers from 30 other states will be shown.

"Margaret Suchland has an absolutely gorgeous book (titled 'Glyph II'). Richard Berns was a big award winner at the (Wustum Museum's) watercolor show this year and his print work is really strong," DeVinny said.

In addition, he praised the fantasy landscapes of University of Tennessee Art Professor Koichi Yamamoto as "really beautiful images." He also singled out the work of father/son printmakers Robert and Jake Muirhead, the ever-changing work of North Dakota artist Brian Paulson, and the engravings of Jim Ehlers, a Kansas printmaker whose work DeVinny describes as "exquisite."

Having survived the emotional stress of teaching his final class during fall semester, DeVinny expects this print show to be loaded with sentiment as well.

"I'll probably spend a lot more time in the show than I've done in previous years just to absorb some of the aura of it," he said.

DeVinny said he's proud the show helped create an audience for prints in the area. A portion of the price for each print sold goes to UW-Parkside art scholarships.

The 22nd Parkside National Small Print Exhibition opens with a reception Sunday, Jan. 18, from 1 to 4 p.m. Regular gallery hours begin Tuesday, Jan. 20 and are Mondays and Thursdays 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and Tuesdays and Wednesdays 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Admission to the reception and exhibition are free.

For more information on the print show, call 262-595-2581.

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Story Status: Archived
Publish date: 1/8/2009