The North American Print Biennial will be held August 26-Sept 29, 2019 at the Jewett Art Gallery at Wellesley College, with a formal reception on September 8 from 2-5 PM, with Curator Shelley Langdale in attendance. In a veritable explosion of strong and evocative prints, this newest edition of the North American Print Biennial measures the climate of artists’ concerns - and the temperature is heating up. Organized by The Boston Printmakers, an international printmaking organization based in Boston, this exhibition is one of the most noted major print reviews held across the entire U.S., and includes U.S., Canadian, and Cuban artists.

The Boston Printmakers invited respected curator Shelley Langdale to select the works. Langdale is the recently appointed Curator and Head of the Department of Modern Prints and Drawings at the National Gallery, and formerly Associate Curator of Prints at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Langdale reviewed 1700 prints and organized the exhibition of 105 artists. Langdale characterizes the works as having “an increased focus on divisive social, political, and cultural issues–racism, immigration, climate change, and sexism–heightened by escalated tensions in the current political climate…. It is heartening to see, as represented here, a growing diversity of cultural references, ethnicity and gender represented in contemporary work that is more reflective of the U.S. population.” Printmakers continue to play a vital role as voices of cultural change, following in a long history of dissemination of information and ideas through printed forms.

On Sunday, September 8, Shelley Langdale will give a Curator’s Lecture at 1 PM, which is free and open to the public. She will also give a gallery talk on Monday September 9 at 1 PM.

Hosting this year’s Biennial is the Jewett Art Gallery, the premier exhibition venue for the Art Department at Wellesley College, directed by Samara Pearlstein. The Gallery is an important teaching resource, an architectural showcase space, and a versatile venue for dynamic and inventive contemporary art programming.

The Boston Printmakers North American Print Biennial connects artists and museums–by awarding purchase prizes and materials awards exceeding $10.000. Founders’ Prizes provide print purchases for the collections at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and the Art Complex Museum. The Boston Printmakers’ Purchase Prize print enters the Boston Public Library’s collection.

New this year, the “Advocacy Award” selected by Shelley Langdale recognizes a work that is based in social awareness. This inaugural prize was awarded to Justyne Fischer, whose work “The Birth of a Nation”, comprised of large relief prints on fabric depicts the injustice of founding a nation on the labor of black bodies. Meticulously carving and printing by hand, Fischer’s woodcuts depart from the usual associations we make with traditional printmaking processes. Without the aid of a press she burnishes her compositions onto sheer fabric by hand. A printmaker and art educator in the Washington D.C. area since 1996, Fischer has served as a visiting artist at Drexel University, Michaelis School of Fine Art University of Cape Town, South Africa and the Fine Art Department of the University of Maryland.

The Boston Printmakers will also sponsor the Boston Printmakers Student Print Competition, held in November at Mazmanian Gallery at Framingham State College, and the associated Printmaking Faculty Exhibition at the Danforth Museum in October.

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