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A major solo exhibition of prints and drawings by Curlee Raven Holton, professor of art and director of Lafayette’s Experimental Printmaking Institute, is on view at SoHo Creative NY through Nov. 13.
His works will also be on view in an exhibit entitled “Selections from the Experimental Printmaking Institute” opening this Friday, Nov. 2, at The Ink Shop Printmaking Center and Olive Branch Press, Ithaca, N.Y. On display through Jan. 14, the show also features the art of Benny Andrews, Richard Anuskewicz, Berrisford Boothe, Barbara Bullock, Roy Crosse, Elizabeth Catlett, Gregory Coates, Wayne Crothers, John Dowell, David C. Driskell, Allan Edmunds, Melvin Edwards, Wanda Ewing, Sam Gilliam, Grace Hartigan, Robin Holder, Paul Keene, Bodo Korsig, Lynn Linnemeier, Al Loving, Quentin Mosely, John Philips, Faith Ringgold, Ian Short & Robin Beckman, Kay Walkingstick, and William T. Williams.
EPI is also hosting award-winning sculptor Martha Jackson Jarvis as part of the College’s Temple Visiting Lecture Series at 4 p.m. Nov. 14 in room 108 of the Williams Center for the Arts. She will also hold a workshop from 1-4 p.m. Nov. 13 at EPI.
“It is not at all unusual to hear that Curlee Holton is abroad, collaborating with printmakers, making art or traveling with a new show of his own work or artists from EPI. He creates exhibitions like he creates art, with a compelling force and directness,” writes artist and author Faith Ringgold in the solo show’s catalogue, entitled Tellin’ it Like it Is. She is a longtime collaborator of Holton’s to whom Lafayette awarded an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree in May.
“I am proud of him. A future of even greater achievement for Curlee Holton is certain. African American and White Artists Construct the American Artistic Canon, one of Holton’s latest research projects, is just another example of Holton’s contribution as scholar and teacher,” Ringgold writes. “African American artists have had a long hard struggle to uncover their history and achieve inclusion in the canon. Now to identify and credit their innovation is a brand new trail. Holton is on it. We will all benefit from this exploration into American art history. When a valuable scholarship unfolds it usually reveals additional revelations we never even expected. Holton is a fresh face on the art scene and I for one am refreshed by his presence and renewed by his work.”
The catalogue also features an essay by Robert S. Mattison, Metzgar Professor of Art.
Holton’s prints and paintings have been exhibited professionally in more than 30 one-person shows and more than 80 group shows, including prestigious national and international venues such as Egypt’s 7th International Biennale; Taller de arts Plasticas Rufino Tamayo in Oaxaca, Mexico; Cleveland Museum of Art; and Whitney Museum of American Art.
His work is in many private and public collections including the Cleveland Museum of Art; Discovery Museum of Art and Science in Bridgeport, Conn.; West Virginia Governor’s Mansion; Foundation of Culture Rodolfo Morales in Oaxaca, Mexico; Yale University Art Gallery; Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts; and the Library of Congress.
Articles and reviews of his work have appeared in more than 40 different publications. He has lectured and presented demonstrations throughout the United States and in Mexico, the West Indies, and Costa Rica and has been an artist-in-residence at museums, colleges, and universities. He has presented more than 70 public lectures on his own work, African American art, and contemporary printmaking and has written numerous articles and essays on art and artists that have been published in catalogues and journals.