Current Exhibitions

PRimrose Press At PMVABF

Printed Matter Virtual Art Book Fair
Virtual
February 24, 2021 - February 28, 2021

Printed Matter’s first ever Virtual Art Book Fair. Every exhibitor has their own unique website at the Fair. You’ll also find hundreds of artists’ books from around the world, ways to say hi and interact, plus a full schedule of panels, discussions, performances, and more.

BLACK LIVES MATTER: SILENCE EQUALS VIOLENCE

Black Lives Matter: Silence Equals Violence
Pablo Center At The Confluence, Eau Claire, WI
December 18, 2020 - June 20, 2021

Co-curated with Dr. Selika Ducksworth-Lawton, Pablo Center gives voice and space to artists exploring issues of racism and intolerance with a focus on the black experience in America.

UPCOMING Exhibitions

past Exhibitions

Member Showcase: Tia Blassingame Mourning/Warning

Member Showcase: Tia Blassingame Mourning/Warning
Center for Book Art, New York, New York
November 11 - December 15, 2020

I Am/You Are/Tia blassingame

I AM/ YOU ARE/ TIA BLASSINGAME
Rogers Gallery, Berea College, Berea, Kentucky
March 9 - May 3, 2020; Artist Talk: Thursday, March 26, 2020 at 4:30pm

Experience the wonders of Tia Blassingame, printmaker/book artist. Blassingame is an assistant professor of book arts at Scripps College. While she is an artist and educator who initially got her start in architecture, her work now focuses on printmaking and letterpress, producing beautiful works with a clear vision and a commitment to the research that informs her more historical pieces.

Paging Through: Artist’s BOoks by tia blassingame

Paging Through: Artist’s Books by Tia Blassingame
Colley Gallery, John Stewart Memorial Library, Wilson College, Chambersburg, Pennsylvania
February 12 – June 7, 2020

Opening Reception: Wednesday, February 12, 2020 from 5:00-6:00PM

Tia Blassingame — who was a guest artist at Wilson in 2012 — is an African American book artist and printmaker exploring the intersection of race, history, and perception. She often incorporates archival research and her own poetry in her artist’s book projects for nuanced discussions of racism in the United States. While  Ms. Blassingame will not be at this opening, she will be our June artist-in-residence, and will give a talk about her work when she is on campus.
 
Cooley Gallery (located on the second floor of the John Stewart Memorial Library) is open Mon – Thur 8AM – 11PM, Fri 8 AM – 5 PM, Sat 9 AM – 5 PM, and Sun 1 PM – 11 PM.

Your day & your world

Your Day & Your World
Alfred R. Goldstein Library, Ringling College of Art & Design, Sarasota, Florida
January 21 through February 21, 2020
Art Walk: Friday, January 24, 2020, 5:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.*

The lives of minorities are all too often characterized by their marginalization, causing those at the fringes of mainstream society to be perpetually identified through victimhood. Consequently, these individuals are dehumanized, and their agency further minimized.

This exhibition presents select print materials by artists interested in challenging the grossly simplified identities and narratives that have been imposed on them. In these works, they recenter their own experiences. They explore what it means to inhabit their bodies and to belong on the periphery.

These works challenge viewers to suspend their own assumptions in order to provide a platform for the misrepresented, the invisible, and the non-conforming. They reinscribe public knowledge through anecdote, satire, poetry, autoethnography, and critique. Through their work, they invite us into their worlds.

Printed matter by Eloisa Aquino, Tia Blassingame, Ben Blount, Sky Cubacub, KaKeART, Amos Paul Kennedy, Jr., Glenn Ligon, Patricia Nguyen, Laurence Rasti, Tomoko Sawada, Clarissa T. Sligh, Mark Addison Smith, Jennifer White-Johnson & Kevin T. Johnson Jr.

Image: Installation view of Black Women's Wisdom (2019) by Ben Blount.

*The Library will have extended public hours to view this exhibition during Art Walk. The Special Collections Center Reading Room will not be open.

LOUDER than words

Louder Than Words
James Alan Rose Gallery, Francis Parker School, San Diego, California
January 20 - February 28, 2020
Opening Reception: January 30, 2020, 5-7PM

Each year Francis Parker School celebrates Poetry Week, February 3 - 7, 2020, with all types of coordinated activities. This year the school has invited San Diego Book Arts to be involved by creating and submitting pieces to a Members' Exhibit entitled Louder Than Words which will be displayed at the beautiful James Alan Rose Gallery on their campus in Linda Vista. The art show and reception will provide another media for examining the word, in poetry, prose or storytelling.   SDBA will also be providing gallery walks and docent tours for the students.

In Nov - Dec 2016 SDBA enjoyed our "If I Call It A Book" Members show at Francis Parker, and we look forward to working with them again.  This opportunity of combining the two art forms of Artist Books and Poetry will be a great challenge to our creative spirits! If you haven't been to the Rose Gallery, check out the website.

Intersections: Book Arts as Convergence

Intersections: Book Arts As Convergence
Carroll Gallery, Newcomb Art Department, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana
January 2 - February 6, 2020

This exhibition seeks to explore areas of convergence, diversity, inclusion and intersectionality through the Book Arts. The CBAA conference itself is an intersection of many diverse voices and approaches, with a rich variety of cultures, individuals and institutions represented. In addition to the academic tradition of the CBAA, this year’s conference in New Orleans celebrates the non-traditional, the outsider/outlier, the expression of our culture in our lives and in our artwork. Whether it is an exploration of the intersection of text and image, structure and content, or artist and viewer, through exhibiting these works, we celebrate the crossroads, overlaps, conversations, and potential for shared experience and expansion.

Lie, Cheat, Steal

Lie, Cheat, Steal: Contemporary Art and Ethics
Kresge Gallery, Lyon College, Batesville, Arkansas
November 5 - December 6, 2019

NEW Editions

New Editions
Minnesota Center for Book Arts, Minneapolis, Minnesota
On view October 18-19, 2019

New Editions is an annual, two-day celebration of new artist book publications, featuring local and internationally created artist books, photo books, chapbooks, zines, broadsides, and hand printed work. New Editions offers something for everyone, from seasoned collectors to new enthusiasts, with items listed at a variety of price points.

EVENT DETAILS:
Friday, October 18, 7PM-10PM: New Editions Ticketed Preview Party featuring over 100 selected artists works, Book Arts StorySlam, catered food, wine, and beer.

Saturday, October 19, 10AM-3PM: New Editions sale free and open to the public!

NEW prints in focus

New Prints In Focus: Tia Blassingame, Allison Conley & Inês Martins
International Print Center (IPCNY), New York, New York
On view October 10–December 18, 2019

This focused presentation will showcase new work created by the most recent New Prints Artists-in-Residence in IPCNY’s studio space.

art Against racism

Art Against Racism
Unitarian Universalist Congregation, Princeton, New Jersey
On view September 20-30, 2019

The Art Against Racism group exhibition, and related multi-faceted art events, will be hosted in various venues in the Princeton from Sept. 20-30, 2019, seeking to help people in the Princeton area consider and discuss racism

The multi-dimensional program will offer an art exhibit, artists’ talks, faith community conversations, a poetry event, a conversation on reparations, and a drag show, “Racism is A Drag.”

The effort is organized by Rhinold Ponder, artist, activist, and attorney; Robt Seda-Schreiber, chief activist of the Bayard Rustin Center for Social Justice (BRCSJ); and Ruthann Traylor, art curator, activist, Princeton resident, and member of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Princeton. Collectively, they see this event as an essential response to the current environment.

The juried art exhibition will feature multiple professional and undiscovered artists’ works, displayed at participating organizations and businesses. Exhibition sites include The Bayard Rustin Center for Social Justice, the Arts Council of Princeton, Princeton United Methodist Church and Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Princeton.something for everyone, from seasoned collectors to new enthusiasts, with items listed at a variety of price points.

Manifest(o)

Manifest(o): Paper Revolutions
University of the Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
On view September 16 – 27, 2019

Umbra

Umbra: New Prints for a Dark Age selected by Alison Saar
International Print Center (IPCNY), New York, New York
On view July 11 – September 28, 2019

Reception & Artist Talks: Thursday, July 11, 6–8 PM


INTERNATIONAL PRINT CENTER NEW YORK (IPCNY) is pleased to present Umbra: New Prints for a Dark Age. The exhibition is part of our New Prints Program, a platform to showcase international printmaking in the current moment. Selected by 2019/Summer artist-juror Alison Saar, the exhibition features 44 artists from Canada, Germany, Greece, India, Poland, the United Arab Emirates, and the United States.

An umbra is the deepest, darkest part of a shadow. During the selection process, Saar described how she was “immediately taken by the number of prints that reflected the somber atmosphere of our times,” which made the metaphor of the umbra a unifying concept. Through technically dynamic approaches to print in sculpture, animation, books, and paper, the works respond to contemporary and often historically pervasive concerns around race, gender, labor, and land. Saar reminds us that “some works are angry, some pained and some are healing and hopeful, but all are passionate about the precarious state of our troubled times.” These artists employ methods of response and resistance that conjure the hope that this precarity is temporary. The pattern of history has often shown dark periods preceding periods of enlightenment, indicating that these artistic mediations are paving the way toward a brighter future—one that is more just, balanced, and inclusive. To mark the milestone of this sixtieth New Prints exhibition, IPCNY will be expanding the New Prints Artist Development Program, now in its fifth cycle, by nominating two Artists-in-Residence for the first time, along with one Artist Mentorship awardee and three Sponsored Coursework awardees. The six awardees of the program will be announced at the opening reception on July 11. For additional information on Public Programs and to shop works from the exhibition, visit ipcny.org/umbra.

ARTISTS: Topher Alexander, Ioannis Anastasiou, Miguel A. Aragón, Linda Behar, Daniel Berman, Tia Blassingame, Douglas Collins, Miguel G. Counahan, Renee Cox, Amirah Cunningham, Maria de Los Angeles, Holly Downing, Camila Escobar Vélez, Christine Garvey, Brian Gonzales, Debra Jenks, Aaron Krach, Krystle Lemonias, Eddy A. López, Inês Martins, Anna McNeary, Jessica Mehta, Judy Mensch, Stephanie Mercado, Brooke Molla, Lynsey Nelson, Shivam Pawar, Laura Post, Bozica Radjenovic, Jacoub Reyes, Seth Roby, José Hugo Sánchez, Zorawar Sidhu, Robynn Smith, Cassandra Stancil Gunkel, Johanna Tiedtke, Max Valentine, Sandy Walker, Elizabeth M. Webb, Carolyn Webb, Ella Weber, Mary Windley, Cameron York, and Roksana Żelazkiewicz.

PRESSES & PUBLISHERS: EFA Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop, New York, NY; GriffelkunstVereinigung Hamburg e.V., Hamburg, Germany; Primrose Press, Los Angeles, CA; The W.O.R.K.S., Vallejo, CA; and Zopilote Inc. Heliográfica Nacional, Mexico City, Mexico.

Alison Saar studied art and art history at Scripps College and received an MFA from the Otis Art Institute. She was the recipient of the 2019 Southern Graphic Council International Lifetime Achievement Award. Her major touring exhibition Mirror Mirror: The Prints of Alison Saar from the Collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer and His Family Foundation is currently on view at Walton Arts Center, Fayetteville, AR, and will be traveling to the Weatherspoon Art Museum, University of North Carolina, Greensboro, Toledo Museum of Art, and the Ruth Chandler Williamson Gallery, Scripps College. Her work is represented in the collections of the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Baltimore Museum of Art, The Museum of Modern Art, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, among others. Saar is a former New Prints artist, featured in Edging Forward: New Prints 2018/Winter.

Playing with Words

Playing With Words 
MCBA Main Gallery, Minneapolis, Minnesota
On view May 11 – July 28, 2019

OPENING RECEPTION SATURDAY, MAY 11; 12-3PM
FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC


Minnesota Center for Book Arts presents Playing With Words, an exhibition of broadsides in collaboration with the Loft Literary Center’s first annual Wordplay, a festive celebration of readers, writers and great books.

MCBA has commissioned 14 printers to create an edition of broadsides by playing with the words of a poet selected by the Loft. Both individual prints and a complete suite of prints are now available for purchase online!A large sheet of paper letterpress printed on one side only, broadsides are a popular and historically important form of street literature, a public work of art designed to be read in public spaces, encouraging a communal reading experience. Plastered onto walls or sold in town squares, broadsides were used to inform the public about current news, publicize protests and events, issue proclamations in the form of ballads, and share poetry with a wide audience.

We are pleased to announce the following poets and printers:

Individual Playing with Words broadsides, the majority of which are hand-signed by both the poet and printer, are available for purchase, both in The Shop at MCBA and online. There are only a limited number available, so act fast!

MCBA held a public reception and free community broadside printing event in collaboration with Minneapolis-based Proof Public on May 11th, 2019 from 12-3 pm in MCBA’s studios. Prints by Proof Public will also be on view in MCBA’s Outlook Gallery on Washington Avenue. On Sunday, May 12, 10-1pm, MCBA’s Studios also featured a showcase of current Artist Co-op members.

Page by page

Page by Page: Contemporary Artists’ Books
Hudgens Center for the Arts, Duluth, Georgia
On view February 9 – April 20, 2019