As queer printmakers, artists, and nature freaks, we began the Queer Ecology Hanky Project as a way to bring together our many interests. Inviting artists to explore queer ecology—an area of inquiry which unites the study of biology, environment, and sexuality with a framework of queer theory—has given us windows into divergent possibilities for gender and sexuality, models of resilience and resistance in a world that feels increasingly bleak. In recent years, queers of all genders and proclivities have expanded the definitions of the original gay hanky code—which emerged in the United States in the early 1970s, as a means for gay men to subtly communicate sexual desires—to include different bodies, identities, and activities. We love designing, printing, and distributing bandanas as wearable artwork, and a means to continue a queer communication of flagging, of finding affinity with plants, animals, mycelia, and each other.

In seeking artists and art for the project, we reached out to our intersecting networks of printmakers, artists, ecologists, zine makers, and herbalists, hoping the call for work would spread like mycelium growth. We created and shared a digital flier, and were fortunate to have the project amplified by a few online platforms with a wide reach. This resulted in a nice mix of artists we actively recruited and new-to-us strangers.The full collection speaks to the diversity of queer experiences.

One of the most exciting things about this project is that it is artwork intended for activation. We hope these hankies will accompany walks in the woods, accessorize outfits at queer dance parties, bundle up foraged mushrooms, and start conversations.

At the 1867 Paris World’s Fair, Japanese block prints—previously unknown to most European and American audiences—took the art world by storm, reawakening interest in block printmaking in Europe and America. Western artists were captivated by Japanese printmakers’ way of viewing the world. Japanese prints depicted everyday subject matter (including landscapes, birds, flowers, fashionable women, and famous actors), unlike the traditional European focus on religious or historical scenes. The style was equally compelling—Japanese prints featured cropped compositions and bird’s-eye views, rather than European one-point perspective. Numerous exhibitions of these prints soon followed, and their popularity spread throughout Europe and America. These color woodcuts so impressed artists in Europe and America that a revival of interest in the possibilities of block printmaking occurred—the International Block Print Renaissance.

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Writing, geometric forms, and textures collide in the works of Maki Haku (1924-2000). Although he never received formal training, Maki learned about printmaking by associating with artists of sōsaku hanga (creative print movement), who valued the artist’s hand in the creation of prints. Maki made his own printing blocks by carving a motif onto a piece of plywood, filling the carved-out areas with cement paste, and passing the print several times through a press to achieve various textures. Calligraphy is central to his works; he sometimes manipulates calligraphy to defy reading, thereby drawing attention to the form of Chinese characters. This exhibition features prints given to Mia from the extensive collection of Sue Y.S. Kimm and Seymour Grufferman.

An international exhibition about translation, recording, and printmaking by eight multidisciplinary artists from Oaxaca, Mexico.

POCOAPOCO’s new exhibition hosted at Highpoint Center for Printmaking features work by eight Oaxacan artists whose varying mediums and perspectives demonstrate the critical and widespread presence of printmaking in Oaxaca, Mexico. Utilizing print as an opportunity to unite their practice and artistic voices, the artists in this exhibition connect around a shared desire to critique and communicate the rapid transformations of their territory, city, and home. Que Conste / For the Record challenges the limits of the medium stemming from possibilities provided by language, playing with the translation and definitions of print from English (printmaking - an artistic process) to Spanish (grabado - recorded or engraved).

Artwork for the show includes a combination of art styles that merge traditional techniques of printmaking with the artists’ various mediums, such as sculpture, pottery, drawing, painting, and performance. The exhibition is free and open to the public. Artists will be traveling to Highpoint Center for Printmaking for the exhibition and will join us for the opening reception.

Opening reception: June 17th | 7–9:00 PM

View the latest videos on APS's YouTube channel, now featuring videos of the virtual programming from April and May, including "Turning a Curiosity into a Collection: Mark Baron & Elise Boisanté on Hindu God Prints" and the APS Distinguished Scholar Lecture. We have also assembled a playlist of older programming.

Follow the link below to go to our YouTube channel, and comment to let us know what you think.

Every summer, Crown Point Press presents a unique seasonal group exhibition highlighting a
wide selection of prints. The works on view in Summer Choices range in medium from a hand
painted drypoint (Pat Steir’s Hand Painted Lily #3) to woodblock prints made in Japan and China
(Portrait with Scissors and Nightclub by David Salle and Janis Provisor’s China Mainland) and
colorful aquatints like Fly Away by Al Held and CPP10 by Leonardo Drew.

“Spontaneous associations can happen when unlikely works are hung next to one another,”
Crown Point Director Valerie Wade recently said. Each gallery wall is installed with a
different thematic grouping of prints, creating visual vignettes that lead the viewer from one
idea to the next in walking through the exhibition. One wall features Pendulum by abstract
painter Patricia Treib paired with representational painter William Bailey’s small black and
white still life, Stradina. Pendulum’s colorful abstract shapes are organized in a shallow space
and mirror the elegant domesticity of Stradina. Another wall features Pliss by Pia Fries and
Nightpack by Charline von Heyl. The rhythmic gestures and crepe-like towers in Pliss speak to
the anthropomorphic shape that swirls around in Nightpack. More straightforward is a wall of
figurative etchings by Marcel Dzama, Jockum Nordstrom, Laura Owens and David Salle (see
below). A mountainous landscape by Wayne Thiebaud and a colorful waterfall by Chris Ofili
are the first prints to welcome the gallery visitor. Summer Choices: A Group Exhibition is on view
in the Crown Point Gallery until the end of August 2022. Gallery hours are Monday through
Friday, 9-5.

Organized by curator Naz Cuguoğlu, and featuring work by Headlands’ 2021-22 Graduate Fellows, representing six MFA programs from around the Bay Area.

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The Paris-born, Brooklyn-based artist Yto Barrada has won the biennial Queen Sonja Print Award (QSPA), the world’s largest prize for graphic art worth NOK 1m (around $106,000).

Please follow the link below to learn more.

Gemini G.E.L. is pleased to present LA Magic Hour, a series of fifteen new prints by acclaimed artist Tacita Dean. On view until July 28, the exhibition marks Dean’s third collaboration with the Gemini G.E.L. workshop.

Please follow the link below for additional details.

Posters by the French artist Jules Chéret (1836–1932) caused a sensation in 19th-century Paris. Known as the father of the poster, Chéret was one of the first artists to bring colorful, large-scale advertisements to Paris streets, creating what critics called a “museum in the open air.” People strolling down the boulevards were captivated not only by Chéret’s vibrant images, but also by how frequently his new designs appeared. Chéret had developed new printing methods that allowed him to meet the fast pace that advertisers demanded to promote their latest entertainments and products. The ephemeral nature of these posters contributed to the popular idea that rapid change was central to modern life.

The exhibition "Always New: The Posters of Jules Chéret" at the Milwaukee Art Museum presents 109 posters, prints, and drawings by Chéret that reflect the French interest in novelty at the end of the 19th century. Drawn from James and Susee Wiechmanns’ gift to the Museum of more than 600 works by the artist, the exhibition is organized into five sections that highlight the various pleasures his posters publicized: performances, fashion, the press, real and imagined travel, and consumer products. "Always New" brings Chéret into focus as a master of his medium and demonstrates how these posters reflect larger societal issues in their depictions of everyday Parisian life.

For more details and list of related events, please visit external link.