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The Experimental Printmaking Institute (EPI) continues its tenth anniversary celebration with five events and exhibits occurring during the month of October.
The list of events includes the opening of the More Than a Book traveling exhibit at the Universidad Autonoma Metropolitana in Mexico City Oct. 9; a gallery talk on bookmaking at 4 p.m. Oct. 11, in Skillman Library, Simon Room; a brown bag lecture given by Costa Rican master printmaker Alberto Murillo and Curlee Raven Holton, professor and chair of art and founding director of EPI, 12:15-1 p.m. Oct. 16, in the Portlock Black Cultural Center; an opening reception and lecture by Holton for the Master Artist/Master Printmaker portfolio exhibition 2:30-5 p.m. Nov. 5, in the Williams Center for the Arts; and the Innovation and Creativity in Printmaking: Selections from the Archives of the Experimental Printmaking Institute exhibition running Oct. 22, 2006 through Feb. 4, 2007, at the Payne Hurd Gallery in the Allentown Art Museum.
The More Than a Book traveling exhibition, organized as a cultural exchange, began at the Centro Cultural in San José, Costa Rica. Holton and book artist MaryAnn Miller will travel to Mexico City to lecture about the books and lead workshops on bookmaking techniques.
This exhibition includes works from four sites of this cultural exchange—Lafayette, Costa Rica, Mexico City, and the University of Manchester, England. The collection includes over 55 books ranging from artists who specialize in this medium to students who are just beginning their exploration of the form.
Lafayette students have been involved in all aspects of the exhibition, including preparing the works for travel, documenting the exhibition, correspondence with the exhibiting artists and the host galleries, and producing work. Art major Sara Smith Katz ’07 (Stroudsburg, Pa.) traveled to Costa Rica to assist with the installation and co-curate the exhibit and her work continued this fall in preparing the artwork for the Mexico exhibition. Melissa Spitz ’06 (Livingston, N.J.), Caitlin Chandler ’06 (Durham, N.H.), and Alexis Gale ’05 (Bangor, Pa.), who all graduated with A.B. art degrees; Carolyn Burns ’09 (Wallingford, Conn.), an art major; and Ellen Rose ’09 (Spring Lake, N.J.), an art and Spanish double major, have works included in the exhibition.
The Oct. 11 bookmaking gallery talk will include Smith-Katz and Miller, who has been advising Katz on bookmaking techniques. The two will speak about the books on exhibit, which represent a variety of works created by EPI’s visiting artists during the past ten years.
The Portlock Black Cultural Center will exhibit the work of Murillo and Holton through Oct. 20. Both artists will present the brown bag talk Oct. 16, which is open to the public.
The Master Artist/Master Printmaker portfolio will be exhibited at the Williams Center for the Arts Oct. 20- Dec. 8. The portfolio involved the creation of new work by internationally renowned master artists and master printmakers. The Nov. 5 reception will run from 3-5 p.m. with Holton’s presentation at 2:30 p.m. in room 108 of the Williams Center.
Innovation and Creativity in Printmaking: Selections from the Archives of the Experimental Printmaking Institute at the Allentown Art Museum will showcase some of the works created by EPI in collaboration with renowned artists such as Richard Anuszkiewicz, Elizabeth Catlett, Allan Rohan Crite, David C. Driskell, Sam Gilliam, Grace Hartigan, Lois Mailou Jones, and Faith Ringgold.
EPI was established in 1996 to promote research and experimentation within the print medium. Since its inception, EPI visiting artist and artist in residence programs have introduced students to over fifty artists from diverse cultural and social backgrounds. The visiting artists have provided students with talented, well educated, and ambitious role models. Their residencies have inspired print editions, experimental works, and artists’ books.
Holton is a master printmaker and educator who has received numerous awards and grants. He has exhibited at the Whitney Museum of American Art; the Seventh International Biennale, Cairo, Egypt; and in Osaka and Tokyo, Japan. He has taught African-American art history and printmaking at Lafayette since 1991.
On Oct. 2, Holton will open a show of his works at Lock Haven University. He will also have a work included in the show Telling the Story: Artists’ Books at The Noyes Museum.
Previously this year, EPI birthday celebration events have included a 10th birthday party, and the completion of the longest print in history, measuring an astonishing 2,000 feet long. Holton, students, members of both the Lafayette and Easton communities, and visiting artists created the print. EPI also welcomed their first international intern this past summer, when Janna van Hasselt of Christchurch, New Zealand, came to campus to work with Holton and other artists from the area.
For more information about the Experimental Printmaking Institute, please call 610-330-5592 or go to the web site.