A traveling Smithsonian exhibit of will be on display in Asheville from May 1 through July 3 at Asheville BookWorks. The Wood Engravers’ Network Triennial Exhibition is the second juried exhibition sponsored by the Wood Engravers’ Network.
Juror Joan Boudreau, curator of the Graphic Arts Collection at the Smithsonian Institute’s National Museum of American History, selected the exhibition’s 60 prints by 51 artists from Belgium, Canada, Finland, Ireland, the United States and the United Kingdom.
Wood engraving is a reductive technique broadly referred to as relief printmaking. Cutting away areas of the block produces areas that will not print. The medium has historic uses in book illustration, graphic design and narrative.
The opening reception will be held Friday, May 1 at 6 p.m. at Asheville Bookworks, 428 1/2 Haywood Rd, West Asheville. The exhibition is free and open to the public. For more information, call Laurie Corral at Asheville BookWorks at 828.255.8444 or email news@ashevillebookworks.com
In addition to Asheville, the exhibit will be on view at the Art Center of Saint Peter (St. Peter, MN) Sept. 18 – Oct. 18, 2015; The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey (Galloway, NJ) Jan. 19 – March 24, 2016; and Montana Museum of Art & Culture (Missoula, MT) June 9 – Sept 17, 2016.
According to Joanne Price, WEN president and exhibition organizer:
Cutting away areas of the block produces areas that will not print. The engraving process involves the use of burins, also used in copper engraving – different tools than the gouges and knives used in plank-grain processes such as woodcut and linocut. Wood engravings utilize the end grain of hard, dense wood to attain minute details. End grain is best illustrated by imagining a cut tree trunk, where the tree’s growth rings are visible. Wood’s gradually rising price and rigorous processing requirements have led artists to seek out alternative materials to engrave. Artists are still using wood, but many are also using materials such as Corian and Mystera (counter top materials,) Resingrave (a resin composite material,) and some plastics: HIPS (high impact polystyrene), plexiglass and Sintra. Finally, to achieve a print, the flat raised relief areas are inked and pressure is applied to transfer ink to paper, creating a mirror image impression of the block.For collectors and art enthusiasts, printmaking processes create multiple originals in limited editions, offering an affordable entry into collecting art or simply owning an original art work.Wood engraving’s intimate scale, minute detail and fine textured grays are emblematic of this graphic medium. American artisans such as Timothy Cole, Lynd Ward, John DePol and Leonard Baskin exemplified the mastery and artistry of the medium in their times. WEN’s traveling exhibit connects the tradition of the medium with a contemporary context, continuing a celebration of the medium today.
Exhibiting artists include: Maria Arango Diener (Nevada), Shirley Bernstein (Connecticut), Dave Bruner (Florida), John Center (Illinois), Evan Charney (Massachusetts), Paul Constance (Virginia), Laurie Corral (North Carolina), Nancy Darrell (North Carolina), Jeremy DeJiacomo (Georgia), Tony Drehfal (Wisconsin), Colleen Dwire (California), Andy English (Cambridgeshire, UK), Leslie Evans (Massachusetts), Andy Farkas (North Carolina), Allan Greenier (Connecticut), R.P. Hale (New Hampshire), John Haney (Ontario, Canada), Jon Hinkel (Minnesota), Eric Hoffman (Rhode Island), Anna Hogan (Massachusetts), Mirka Hokkanen (Finland), Judith Jaidinger (Illinois), Dale Kennedy (Minnesota), Cindy Koopman (Minnesota), Dirk E. Lee (Montana), Channing Lefebvre (New York), Miriam MacGregor (Cheltenham, UK) Susan Mannion (Ireland), Michael McGarvey (New Jersey), John McWilliams (South Carolina), Joel Moline (Minnesota), Carl Montford (Washington), Jameson Moore (New Jersey), David Moyer (Pennsylvania), William Myers (Minnesota), Jennifer O’Keefe (Massachusetts), Sylvia Pixley (Michigan), Sylvia Portillo (Washington), Joanne Price (Kentucky), Christopher M. Register (Virginia), Abigail Rorer (Massachusetts), Anders Sandstrom (indiana), John Steins (Yukon, Canada), Marsha Sweet (Ohio), James G. Todd (Montana), Nikki Vahle-Schneider (Minnesota), Manuel Vermeire (Brussels, Belgium), Richard Wagener (California), Jim Westergard (Alberta, Canada), Donna Westerman (California), Deborah Wood (Québec, Canada).
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