New Show at Washington Printmakers Gallery Features Work by the New York Society of Etchers
Jon Fasanelli-Cawelti, Self Portrait. Intaglio: Engraving, gouging, scraping, burnishing, etching. Photograph courtesy of the New York Society of Etchers
On Saturday, January 7, The Washington Printmakers Gallery hosted their 13th annual January Invitational, featuring works by members of the New York Society of Etchers (NYSE), on view through January 28.
As a group of exhibiting artists, the NYSE began its formal exhibition program in 2000, creating and collaborating in 20 exhibitions of artist prints. Eight of these efforts have focused exclusively on the graphic arts of local emerging artist and not for- profit workshops; thirteen of the shows have had international influences with collaborating artists from Hungary, China, France, Ireland, Peru, the Ukraine and Australia.
The remaining seven exhibitions have been organized on behalf of cultural institutions in Bridgeport, CT, the Ukrainian Institute of America and the Paramount Center of the Arts in Peekskill, NY. So far, ten exhibitions have been documented with professionally published catalogues. Portfolio projects of exhibited NYSE prints have been organized for most of the above institutions, as well as for the New York Public Library, which accepted a collection following the inaugural exhibition.
The portfolios will preserve and significantly support the long-term record of New York printmakers. In addition, the NYSE's catalogues and exhibition posters have been collected by both public and private collections, including the Library of Congress and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
"There is no particular theme or restriction for our show, and although we are the New York Etching Society, that isn't an indication of our technical preferences and is actually more of a nod to a previous organization: the New York Etching Club (active from 1877-1894)," says Richie Lasansky, NYSE member responsible for organizing this exhibit and whose work is included in the exhibition. "As far as technique, it's a mixed bag. There are all kinds of etching: lift ground, soft ground, spit bite, aquatint, straw hat and white ground. Direct techniques (such as) engraving, dry point, scraping and burnishing. Not to mention lithography, monotypes, solar plate etching, some paper litho, and even the odd woodcut."
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Also in this Issue:
- Lower East Side Printshop: Working Side by Side with the Artist Community
- Evan Summer: The Fine Art of Intaglio
- Quincy Pond Print Works: Past Lives Brought into Focus
- New Show at Washington Printmakers Gallery Features Work by the New York Society of Etchers
- This History of Intaglio