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Posted by jendanderson on January 21st, 2010 | 
So this week is the big week here in LA, well at least for art lovers. The LA Art Show and the Art LA Contemporary are both open through this weekend.
I was lucky enough to attend the Gala Reception for the LA Art Show and am happy to make my first report about the prints and printing taking place at the show.
The IFPDA Print Fair is part of the LA Art Show and this is their second year to invite Dave Lefner to give a print demonstration throughout the run of the show. Known for his beautiful reduction linocuts of old and weathered neon signs around LA, Dave has set up an amazing studio within a standard exhibition booth. The night of the gala he was printing the first runs on a few of the small prints he will be completing during the run of the show. I caught a few shots of him being a good printmaker and cleaning up.
Dave’s creativity certainly came out in his quick and amazingly handy print drying system. I may have to steal his idea. Who know L brackets could do so much?
Also at the LA Art Show, in the non-profit section of the fair is the Los Angles Printmaking Society. This year Cathy Weiss curated an exhibition of works from area members including this beautiful book by Holly Jerger. Above it a little piece by Camilla Taylor that was mentioned on Printeresting earlier.
I will be heading back to the fair tomorrow to spend less time grabbing swag and more time checking out the art, so there is definitely more to come!
Posted by jendanderson on January 12th, 2010 | 
In a world that keep telling us to make things bigger and faster, sometimes you want something small, intimate and printed. Christopher Clark took that impetus and created the Little Print Exchange. A self described contrarian, Chris begin the project to work against the notion that larger art works have greater intrinsic value and as an opportunity to create what he felt was a quality exchange of prints. He curated a group of fifty artists from around the world who were interested in the the concept of making prints only three and a half inches in any direction. The portfolio runs the gamut of print techniques and approaches and all 50 can be seen on the project’s website. Rumor has it Chris might go even smaller for the next project. Shown prints by Jill Marie Mason, Nancy Jo Haselbacher and Christopher Clark.
Posted by jendanderson on October 6th, 2009 |
 Spot the difference: Negative images of the Shroud of Turin (left) and a modern replica made by scientists
The news is out. Professor Garlaschelli of the University of Pavia, has used “materials and print technologies available in the middle ages” to reproduce the Shroud of Turin. For this experiment a student’s body was covered with a cloth and then rubbed with red ochre to make the transfer of information from the body’s surface, basically an indirect method of gyotaku (also known as fish printing). Some artificial aging and holes added for affect and the scientist had made a print that he claims proves this well loved and revered relic to be fake.
Posted by jendanderson on September 16th, 2009 | 
Yes, it was the title that caught my attention, but I must admit to being rather pleased with my copy of Printmakers’ Secrets since I received it in the mail a few days ago. Published this year and just recently available to audiences in the US, Anthony Dyson has put together a wonderful book of printmakers and their first hand account with the media. The book begins with a foreword by Sir Peter Blake pronouncing this to be “a most exciting time for printmaking,” and then launches into two page spreads with images and words by sixty-seven artists.
The artists writings vary from personal narratives about how they began working with printmaking, to explainations of why they are using certain media (Melvyn Petterson goes in depth about dry-point), to the conceptual ideas and inspiration behind their work (Frank Kiely explains the importance of a Mamas and Papas song and his use of color). There is a lot of wonderful geeky tech talk for those who already know and love prints, but not in excess making this a great book for beginners or for someone curious to find examples of artists writing about their own work.
Since Dyson is based in the UK, most of the artists presented between the covers of his book are also from the British Isles. As a reader from the US, this was the book’s greatest attraction to me, as it has served to introduce me to several artists, such as Pilar Munoz and Carole Hensher, who are doing exciting work but have not appeared on my radar before.
Posted by jendanderson on September 9th, 2009 | 
Design site Grain Edit has recently posted an interview with Melissa and JW Buchanan otherwise known as the Little Friends of Printmaking. In this interview this dynamic duo discuss their creative process, how the Little Friends of Printmaking was born and upcoming exhibitions and projects. I enjoyed the candid nature of their responses. Melissa especially admitted something that most of us don’t and probably should – that her first print perhaps wasn’t that swell, which is fine because the two seem to known what they are doing now.
Thanks Craftzine for posting about this as well!
Posted by jendanderson on September 7th, 2009 |  Harness the power of the sun for your multiples! I found this while searching the internet for something else, the site is of course on clean power. My only comment, why aren’t we still using this technology?
Posted by jendanderson on September 6th, 2009 | This installation by Christopher Baker fuses print with present technologies that we often consider temporal and extremely fleeting. 30 thermal printers installed above eye level in the gallery, constantly scour twitter and print out a waterfall of 140 character emotional statements. Beautiful and scientific, this installation seems to hint at the interaction of web and paper, of art and documentation, and visual and concrete poetry.
http://www.vimeo.com/4464887
Posted by jendanderson on September 6th, 2009 | Hosted by the International Printing Museum, a large crowd of print lovers faced the 100 degree heat for this weekend’s LA Printers Fair. Vendors were there selling everything from braille type, to fine art prints, to handmade paper, to hand printed bibs. Throughout the day museum personnel were giving demonstrations on the Linotype machine, the Heidelberg Windmill, as well as bookbinding and the basics of printmaking. The big hit of the day was the Letterpress Swap Meet where people were snapping up cans of ink, job cases, presses and the like! Rumor has it, someone came all the way from Canada to snag a deal on a press!
Although this was the first fair for the museum, it is only a new component to their already interesting programming. The museum itself is an amazing educational resource and curiosity cabinet for the print enthusiast. Their collection is considered one of the largest in the world and contains every type of press imaginable, even a huge assortment of vintage children’s presses. 
Posted by jendanderson on July 9th, 2009 |
A little, well large, something that I saw while driving on the freeway the other day here in Los Angeles. So I suppose, if libraries can do it, so can Hollywood!
Posted by jendanderson on July 9th, 2009 |
ABC’s from Central Office on Vimeo.
I had the wonderful opportunity to attend the Hammer Museum’s panel presentation FOOTNOTES AND HEADLINES: SISTER CORITA. The panel was moderated by Curator Brooke Hodge. Artists Jim Isermann, Pae White, and Donald Moffett spoke about Corita, her legacy and the relationship between her work and theirs. Though the panel discussion was interesting, the film shown as an introduction was by far the most interesting item of the night.
Become a Microscope is a new film directed by Aaron Rose (Beautiful Losers and Alleged Press) that compactly tells Corita’s story while interweaving short statements about her through the film. With an original score by Money Mark and some great flash animation, this film captures the feel of Corita’s work, its complicated subversion and the legacy she left with her students.
PS - If you are in the LA area it will be shown for free this Sunday, July 12 at 8PM at Family Bookstore on Fairfax Avenue
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