Danielle Durchslag: Relative Unknowns Retrospective

I'm delighted to be collaborating on the first New York solo exhibition of rising star artist Danielle Durchslag.  Relative Unknowns will be a comprehensive retrospective of paper collage reliefs based on photographic images of family ancestors whose names and identities have been forgotten over time.  The show opens at Denny Gallery from December 12th, 2013 through January 26th, 2014.  

Works from the Relative Unknown series were originally included in the critically acclaimed exhibition A Cut Above: 12 Paper Masters (see previous post). Since then, Danielle Durchslag's career has gone from strength to strength.  This series has recently been included in various gallery exhibitions and institutions including the Brooklyn Public Library and the Jewish Theological Seminary, New York.   Several major private collections have kindly agreed to loan their Relative Unknown pieces for the show so visitors can enjoy the series in it's entirety.

Please join us for this unique exhibition and opening reception on Thursday, December 12th, 2013 from 6 to 8pm.   Further information and RSVP here.

Danielle Durchslag, Relative Unknown 4, 2011, Paper, tape, glue, vintage board, 12 x 9.25 in 

Nova Utopia

Stephen Walter's extraordinary hand drawn map of Nova Utopia revisits Thomas More’s famous fictional island state of Utopia a century after a capitalist revolution has transformed its very essence. Renowned worldwide as a luxury leisure destination, its different regions cater to a wide range of visitors, but risk becoming isolated from each other.  This stunning limited editioned print is hot off the press and was recently exhibited in his solo show Stephen Walter: Anthropocene in London. For further information contact Diana.

Stephen Walter, Nova Utopia, 2013, Paper size 133.5 x 171.5 cm

Nova Utopia is place of dreams! A large leisure island state about 200 miles across, defined by its isolation, its beauty and the immense diversity of its landscapes and resources. As a destination, Nova Utopia sits somewhere between the wonderful, the beautiful, the entertaining, the rich, the sublime and the ridiculous. Despite recent environmental and social concerns, there’s a wonderful array of places to visit, and a tour of the island provides a fascinating insight into this unique and ever-changing country. 

More information: The Visitors' Guide To Nova Utopia

Archival digital print with protective and UV glaze
Somerset enhanced radiant white smooth 330gsm
Edition of 50, signed and editioned by the artist (detial)

Images courtesy of the Artist and TAG Fine Arts

Cutting Edge: Contemporary Paper Art

I'm delighted to collaborate with the Brooklyn Public Library on a beautiful show of cut paper and book art exhibits.  Cutting Edge: Contemporary Paper Art runs until June 1 and includes delicate works by paper masters Doug Beube, Danielle Durchslag, Irwin Susskind and Thomas Witte.  The exhibition celebrates the renaissance of cut paper as an artist medium and includes work that directly relates to the library's archives and history.

Works are displayed in the main entrance Foyer Cases & Balcony Cases. See here for further information and exhibition notes.

Doug Beube, Masked Vocabulary

Katsutoshi Yuasa: Miraculous opens at the ISE Cultural Foundation, NYC

Katsutoshi Yuasa, Pseudo Mythology 2, 2011, oil based woodcut with pigment on paper

I'm delighted to collaborate with New York's ISE Cultural Foundation on a stunning show of recent woodcuts by the young Japanese master, Katsutoshi Yuasa. Miraculous opens on November 9, 2012.  The reception, from 6 to 8pm, is sponsored by TAG Fine Arts and Sake Discoveries Inc.  Please join us for a glass to celebrate!

The artist will also be In Conversation on Saturday, November 10, 2012, from noon to 2pm.

Yuasa makes woodcut prints from his own digital photographs. By combining two processes – the camera’s ‘snapshot’ and the woodcut’s lengthy reinterpretation of the same image – he hopes to crystallise the atmospheric and emotional character of his subjects. His pieces take weeks to complete, transforming his ephemeral subjects into haunting images, as beautiful up close as from a distance.

Preview the exhibition catalogue, published by TAG, here.
For further information and to RSVP, contact Diana Ewer.
Katsutoshi Yuasa: Miraculous | Nov 9, 2012 - Jan 4, 2013
ISE Cultural Foundation | 555 Broadway | New York | NY 10012

Printmaking today: a commercial perspective

I've been invited to speak at the Second International Printmaking Symposium (SNAP) in Germany. I'll be talking about my experience in publishing, exhibiting and selling fine art prints.  The lecture will be part of a programme of events that celebrates contemporary printmaking and explores its future. 

SNAP is presented by the Print Association Bentlage and the cultural institution Kloster Bentlage in Rheine, Germany, from 27 - 30 September 2012. Directed at all those who are intellectually and creatively engaged in contemporary printmaking (from students and artists, to dealers and collectors), the symposium will provide an international platform to discuss the aesthetic, philosophical, cultural and technical potential of the medium. The symposium will include lectures, discussions, workshops, trade displays and exhibitions in a programme spanning four days and multiple venues.

Japanese woodcut artist Katsutoshi Yuasa will also be previewing works at SNAP in advance of his forthcoming solo exhibition ‘Miraculous’ that opens at the ISE Cultural Foundation in NYC this November.

Image details: Katsutoshi Yuasa, Listen, nature is full of songs and truth, 2012, woodcut on paper

Video of the exhibition "A Cut Above: 12 Paper Masters"

Just in case you missed it, a video of A Cut Above can now be viewed online that includes a number of interviews with participating artists. To listen to what they have to say about the show and their work, please click here.

Sincere thanks to the Christopher Henry Gallery, the artists involved in making the film and the Streaming Museum - an organisation focused on helping artists and curators reach new audiences across the globe.

 A Cut Above: 12 Paper Masters (Images Courtesy of the Christopher Henry Gallery)

"Katsutoshi Yuasa: Miraculous" Fall Exhibition

Katsutoshi Yuasa, An Impossible Extreme Reality #1, 2011
oil based woodcut on paper, 163 x 122 cm, 64.2 in x 48 in

The ISE Cultural Foundation has generously awarded a grant to present a solo exhibition of contemporary woodcuts by the young Japanese master Katsutoshi Yuasa. Miraculous, curated by Diana Ewer opens on November, 2, 2012 to coincide with New York's print week. Until January 4, 2013, he exhibits a new series of woodcuts made in the aftermath of Japan’s devastating earthquake in March 2011. Abroad at the time, the Internet became a vital source of information through which the artist was able to piece together a narrative of events, and relate to the suffering his friends and family in Japan were experiencing first hand.

Katsutoshi Yuasa: Miraculous is, in part, based on images of natural disasters culled from the Internet, translated by the artist into hauntingly permanent post-apocalyptic woodcuts on an epic scale: the largest measures 8 by 10 ft. Meticulously hand-crafted, these works echo the pixelated raster-graphic structure of digital images lifted from the web, yet Yuasa carefully edits and filters his material. His woodcuts are the end result of a long spiritual and creative journey through which he hopes to crystallize the emotive character of his subjects’ inner world. Each woodcut takes weeks to complete, as Yuasa painstakingly translates details of light and shadow onto plywood ready for printing, allowing the works to metamorphose through his process. The finished woodcuts exist as objects and images in their own right, removed from the original narratives that inspired them, but still communicating an abstract appeal of dramatic proportions. Yuasa sees this transformation as an act of purification. The changes he makes to the images are a means of grasping a higher truth or meaning – something miraculous – surpassing the realities that inspired him.

 

Opening Reception with Sake Tasting: Friday, November 2, 2012, 6 – 8pm

Artist and Curator In Conversation: Saturday, November 3, 2012, 12 noon – 2pm

In Conversation includes a demonstration of the printing woodcut process by the artist

For further an invitation, press information and preview check list, please contact me.

A full exhibition catalogue has been funded by TAG Fine Arts the artist's London based gallery and publisher. 

Katsutoshi Yuasa, Pseudo Mythology #3, 2011, oil based woodcut on paper
243 x 488 cm, 95.6 in x 192.1 in

Katsutoshi Yuasa, Slow Screaming #1, 2011, oil based woodcut with on paper
61 x 91.5 cm, 24 in x 36 in

Katsutoshi Yuasa, Slow Screaming #2, 2011, oil based woodcut with on paper
61 x 91.5 cm, 24 in x 36 in

Katsutoshi Yuasa, Slow Screaming #3, 2011, oil based woodcut with on paper
61 x 91.5 cm, 24 in x 36 in