Tuesday, November 4, 1997
Printmaking exhibit reintroduces classic art
ART Show reveals deep emotions, colorful experiences of the
artists
By Sam Toussi
Daily Bruin Contributor
Ink blots. Smudges. Presses and text. Printmaking may conjure up
such banal images, but the newest exhibit at UCLA at the Armand
Hammer Museum and Cultural center showing through January 4
uncovers printmaking in a whole new light.
The exhibit displays prints, books, portfolios and
three-dimensional objects by 30 artists who have worked at
Universal Limited Art Editions for nearly half a century.
Partly a lesson in pure aesthetic enjoyment and partly a lesson
in the expanding scope of visual art in the modern age, the
exhibition offers a historical look at the art of printmaking and
how it has changed over the last 40 years.
The works are small in scope and simple compared to the deep and
complex pieces that have recently been created. Though some will
not associate printmaking with "art," the fact remains that some of
the most innovative iconography of the second half of the twentieth
century has found its way to print including pieces by pioneers Jim
Dine, Helen Frankenthaler, Robert Motherwell, Barnett Newman, Larry
Rivers and James Rosenquist.
"For those who do not see this as art, they’re merely depriving
themselves of another arena aesthetic artistic experience," says
exhibit curator Jack Cowart. "There are so many forms, from
acoustic to visual, from classical to minimal. It’s another
component of the lush arena of the artistic experience."
The ULAE was founded by Maurice and Tatyana Grosman with help
from friends and major artists who wanted to create an intimate
facility dedicated to supporting artists and their progressive
concepts.
"For me, it was a fundamental part of my art," says Kiki Smith,
one of the artists whose work is displayed at the exhibition. "It’s
something I’ve always done so its really extrinsically important to
the art."
The artistic experience is a concept central to the art of
printmaking. Prints often do not present a definite image but an
emotion and offer it to the viewer. For example, Carroll Dunham’s
"Wave" is without a definite form but appears as an explosion of
color which leaves the viewer to decide the emotion attached.
Because this concept does not set limits or rules, the results
become extremely expansive.
The early works set the tone by pushing the envelope on the
artistic experience for later works by Jasper Johns and Robert
Rauschenburg, who are both, ironically, painters by trade.
"The majority of the prints are done by painters," Cowart says.
"Tatyana Grosman wanted to bring painters into print so they could
be more exploratory. They were always trying new strange
things."
Though Johns and Rauschenburg are both painters, their prints
have taken dramatically different paths.
"They’re really polar opposites of ULAE. Jasper is more
exclusive," Cowart says. "He concentrates on the process and the
evolution. His work is very intellectualized. Rob is inclusive, he
encompasses all as a world citizen."
Some of the more recent works by Johns and Rauschenburg show
that discrepancy. While Johns’ recent work has been solitary and
confined, Rauschenburg has expanded his scope to a world level,
including a series of work inspired by his trip around the world
and, especially, to the former Soviet Union.
Rauschenburg has a series of prints from while he was traveling
abroad in which he paints a portrait of American and Soviet life by
showing images from both nations. The colors blend together to show
that the two cultures were not all that different.
The recent works of Johns and Rauschenburg have shown that Johns
has taken a more gestational approach to his art , building on past
images and reexamining older prints of his. He examines line and
color. Rausdchenburg, on the other hand, has been creating large,
stunning pieces.
In one series of paintings, Rauschenburg takes the works of
Renaissance artist Bellini and combines modern art with images of
Bellini’s work. He mixes photos of fences and street signs with
Bellini’s classic Renaissance figures into an examination of the
origins and direction of visual art.
In the late ’80s and ’90s, there has been another explosion in
print making, particularly with female artists. "The first
generation of women artists carry the art of the abstract and the
universal archetype," Cowart says. "Then you jump to the ’80s and
’90s where women are utilizing their personal, physical and
visceral experience. It has high emotive character; it’s more
open."
Artists such as Kiki Smith and Carroll Dunham exemplify the
female emotive character. Dunham’s work is brilliant and her colors
can shock the viewers senses.
Smith is quick to admire Dunham’s work. "I really enjoy her
work. I enjoy the manipulation of color and line and how she
manipulates the constraints of the medium," Smith says.
Smith offers her personal emotions as art, including great waves
of pain.
"One makes work from personal experiences," Smith explains. "For
me, its essential for self-expression."
The prints are often as diverse as the artists themselves but
one thing links all of them together: it is a constantly evolving
art.
To look at the exhibit in chronological order is to look at the
changing shape of American culture and the artists’ expanding
sphere of reference.
ART: Admission for the UCLA at the Armand Hammer Museum of Art
and Cultural Center is $4.50 for adults and $1 with UCLA ID.
Admission is free on Thursday from 6 to 9 p.m. For information call
(310) 443-7000.