Blocks of Color

AMERICAN WOODCUTS FROM THE 1890s TO THE PRESENT
9.1.09 — 1.3.10 @ Voorhees Zimmerli Art Musuem, New Brunswick

sorry for ALL CAPS. don't know how to change it


ALWAYS HAVING AN ADMIRATION FOR WOODCUT PRINTMAKING & PRINTMAKING IN GENERAL, THIS GROUP SHOW WAS ONE OF THE MOST COHESIVE YET DIVERSE COLLECTION OF WORKS I'VE SEEN YET. THE MERE KNOWLEDGE OF THE SIMPLICITY IN THE TECHNIQUE OF WOODCUT ONLY EXEMPLIFIES EACH ARTIST'S INNOVATION & PERSONAL CONTRIBUTION TO THIS DIGNIFIED AND PUREST OF PRINTMAKING METHODS. SEONG MOY'S CLASSICAL HORSE AND RIDER EXUDES A FLUIDITY IN ITS MARK-MAKING ACHIEVED BY THE LAYERING OF COLOR AND THE CARVING OF PAINTERLY STROKES. IT WAS REMINISCENT OF THE THREE WELCOMING PRINTS NEAR THE ENTRANCE OF THE EXHIBIT. KAREN KUNC'S "NATURE-BASED ABSTRACTIONS", WHIRLING WORLD BELOW (1989), UNBOUND ABOVE (1989), & CURRENT'S EDGE (1987), SHARE SIMILAR ENERGETIC AND FLUID ELEMENTS ALSO THROUGH THE SYSTEMATIC LAYERING OF COLOR. THE STYLE CHOSEN BY THE ARTISTS EMPHASIZES THE CONTENT IN THEIR WORK AS WELL,—RIDER ON HORSEBACK IN MOTION AND ENERGETIC NATURAL PHENOMENA—BOTH UTILIZING THE MEDIUM TO THEIR BENEFIT. ON THE CONTRARY HOWEVER, BLANCHE LAZZELL, FIRST WOMAN TO PRODUCE THE EARLIEST NON-REPRESENTATIONAL PRINT, EXPOSES THE PURE ESSENTIALS OF THE PRINT METHOD WITH ITS CONTRASTING CARVED WHITE OUTLINE AND OVERLAPPING MASSES OF FRAGMENTED BLOCKS OF COLOR IN CUBIST COMPOSITION (1925). DISPLAYED ALONG WITH THESE ORGANIC PRINTS ARE MORE REPRESENTATIONAL AND JAPANESE-INSPIRED PRINTS SUCH AS BERTHA LUM'S TANABATA (1912) AND HELEN HYDE'S CHINESE INSPIRED THE SAUCE-PAN SHOP (1908). LUM'S PRINT EMBODIES THE RECOGNIZABLE CHARACTERISTICS OF JAPANESE PRINTS' HARSH LIGHTING, FLAT COLOR, AND OUTLINING THAT WE SEE LATER IN THE CENTURY IN SOME IMPRESSIONIST ARTISTS' WORK. THIS EXHIBITION EMBODIES EVEN MORE DIVERSE WORK BY CURRENT ARTISTS JIM DINE WHO PRIMARILY USES PINOCCHIO AS THE SUBJECT OF HIS WORKS AS A METAPHOR FOR THE METHOD OF WOODCUT PRINTMAKING, COMMENTING ON THE SIMILAR QUALITIES OF PINOCCHIO AND THE ACTUAL MATERIALS USED IN WOODCUT. HE BRINGS WOODCUT PRINTS TO LIFE LIKE THE WOODEN PUPPET THAT COMES TO LIFE. OVERALL, THE VARIATION IN CONTENT AND STYLE IN THE BLOCKS OF COLOR EXHIBIT KEPT ME ENGAGED AND INTERESTED IN THE STORY BEHIND EACH PRINT, REVEALING SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES BETWEEN EVERY ARTIST AND THEIR PERSONAL APPROACH.