Bradbury Gallery, Fowler Center presents
Delta National Small Prints Exhibition

Oct. 16, 2006 -- This year begins the second decade of the national competition, the Delta National Small Prints Exhibition, at Arkansas State University.  The opening reception will be held Thursday, Oct. 19 at 5 p.m. in the Bradbury Gallery at the Fowler Center on the ASU campus.  The exhibit continues through Nov. 17.

Founded eleven years ago by Evan Lindquist, now Professor Emeritus of Art at Arkansas State University, the DNSPE has continued to be one of the countries most acclaimed annual competitions for prints.  Each year a nationally known expert in the field of printmaking is invited to select the works of art for that exhibition and to determine which works will receive awards, including purchase prizes which are funded by patrons of the DNSPE.

The juror for this year’s exhibition was Judith Hecker, Assistant Curator in the Department of Prints and Illustrated Books at The Museum of Modern Art in New York.  It is a significant opportunity to have someone who is so immersed in the world of contemporary prints make the selections for the 2006 DNSPE.  The result is a stunning exhibition of 52 prints by 48 artists.  The works range widely in style and process resulting in a dynamic exhibition that serves as an interesting snapshot of contemporary printmaking.

 Hecker states, “In an age when everything seems to get bigger and bigger—contemporary art, the museums that house them, television screens, and cars—it is a welcomed relief to take time out for some visual intimacy.  The Delta National Small Prints Exhibition offers one such aesthetic break.”  She continues, “…this esteemed competition showcases printed works that range from a mere 5 x 3 inches to a more substantial, but still cozy 22 x 28 inches.  Bigger is not always better.  The fifty-two prints selected for exhibition attest to the still remarkable relevancy and vibrancy of this smaller format, and the vast assortment of techniques and themes pursued within a more limited scale.” 

 The works in the exhibition employ the oldest to the most cutting-edge techniques: the bold mark-making of woodcut and linoleum cut; the delicate linearity and tonal richness of etching and mezzotint; the sinuous hand-drawn line of lithography; the bold areas and flat colors of screen print; and, finally, the precision and saturation of digital printmaking.  These approaches are joined by thematic concerns equally as broad reaching: landscape and urban subjects, the figure and social spaces, gesture and abstraction.  Some works are narrative, even overtly political, while others are quietly emotive and evocative of states of mind.  In all the prints, technique and subject work in unison, each artist selecting a process that enhances the idea or feeling they are trying to convey, and vice versa—a quality that makes printmaking, of all the artistic mediums, such a full and rewarding creative endeavor. 

 This year there will be three sizes of small prints rather than just one as has been seen in the past.  This change will be more accommodating to the talented artists who submit their work as well as being an exciting new visual element for our faithful viewing audience.  

 The selections for the exhibition are made without the knowledge of the artist’s name or address.  Only the title, size of the print and type of print is known by the juror.  Because of this ASU is very proud to announce that three ASU faculty members and one student will be featured in the exhibition.   As an even greater source of pride, all three faculty members were also awarded purchase prizes. 

Macha, Siren and Minx by Shelley Gipson, Assistant Professor in Printmaking are included in the exhibition.  The print Minx will receive The Golden Family Purchase Award in memory of Billie N. & Dr. James F. Golden. Speaking about Gipson’s work, Hecker says, “her miniscule but highly worked etchings present a series of disintegrating figures with harrowing expressions that emit unheard screams.”  

Gipson states, “In the portrayal of ambiguous, intimate moments, I explore conflicting emotions. Beautiful forms lure the viewer into the work. The emotion revealed in the details (bands, facial expressions) conflicts with the beauty of the greater form. The viewer becomes a witness, and is drawn into questions about human nature. I wish to evoke introspection by calling attention to human suffering and mortality.”

Neil Matthiessen, Assistant Professor in Graphic Design, will show his inkjet print, Chaos Is Often Triggered By Resonance #1.  His print will be given the Peggy and Dr. Mark Stripling Purchase Award.  Matthiessen says in a statement about his work, “I like to create work that ask questions rather than gives answers. I try to make work that will stand on its own and not need explanation or guidance, but engages viewers through his or her own thoughts and views. I think that creating art that forces the audience to think and rethink about their environment creates the opportunities for these questions to arise. I make work that I like, that interests me, that makes me think.”

 Professor in Sculpture, John Salvest, will exhibit, Letter Box. It will receive the Brackett-Krennerich & Associates Architects Purchase Award.  Hecker says,“Text and language is explored in a painstaking minimalist-inspired grid that contains, upon close examination, rubber stamps of the entire alphabet as well as the numbers one through nine.  With letters and numbers repeated in rhythmic patterns, the work takes on a performative quality. 

 In discussing this print series, Salvest states, “I am happiest while lost in solitary and repetitive work involving a certain kind of mindless concentration. In my studio practice I like to establish situations wherein unplanned things can happen, willfully giving up control within a controlled context. This state of mind has carried me through some very large and time-consuming projects, sometimes taking months to complete.  Letter Box is from a series of recent rubber stamp drawings that allowed me to get lost in the process, only this time on a smaller scale and, refreshingly, with more immediate results.”

 Also included is Kelli Langston, a senior in the Department of Art.  She says of her intaglio and woodcut print, Espingarda, “I explore the complexities of life through layered imagery.  Conflicting relationships are hidden or revealed in subtle manipulations of forms and physical layers.  For example, feminine and masculine counteract in the physicality of a shotgun blast and the delicate woodcut that it creates.  I want the viewer to look twice.”

 A full color catalog of the entire exhibition will be available at the opening reception.  Bradbury Gallery hours are noon to 5pm Tuesday through Saturday and 2 to 5 on Sunday.  The exhibition and the reception are admission-free and open to the public.  For additional information please contact the Bradbury Gallery at 870-972-2567.

 Contact: Les Christensen
870 972 2567
lchristensen@astate.edu

# # #