Printmaking is a centuries-old collection of techniques that have maintained relevance as both an art form and a way to produce multipliable images. Depending on your source, the origins of the medium date back to the Han Dynasty (206 BCE - 220 CE), when incised wooden blocks were used to decorate textiles in China. The medium gained more traction in the West during the mid-fifteenth century, when paper became more widely available and allowed for the dispersal of detailed diagrams, exotic flora and fauna, and, of course, text. By the sixteenth century, printmaking had made a measurable impact on Western art history with the rise of Old Masters like Dürer and later Rembrandt and Goya, among many others.

Although modern methods have replaced some of the more-archaic printmaking techniques, the heart of the idea remains the same: transferring an image from a matrix (a template, often made of wood, glass, or metal) onto another surface – like fabric or paper. Traditional techniques include engraving, etching, lithography, monotype, and woodcut printmaking. The medium has even expanded to include screen printing and digital printmaking methods. It’s an exciting art form that offers ample room for creativity with its diversity of application. This notion is conveyed through the work of a local cadre of artists, the 67th Street Printmakers.

Jolynn Reigeluth, *Take It Easy, Greasy*, etching with chine-collé, collage, and watercolor

The 67th Street Printmakers’ Group Show, on display for the month of February in the Gallery Annex, reminds us of the heterogeneous nature of the medium. Originally brought together by their appreciation for printmaking at the Indianapolis Arts Center, the group was formally established in 2016. The printmakers’ methods are as diverse as their subjects: chine-collé etchings, woodcuts, linocuts, monotypes, resingrave engravings, screenprints, relief prints, cyanotypes, intaglio, lithographs, collagraphs, and drypoints. The works detail surrealist dreamscapes, farm animals, abstract scenes, calming landscapes, biomorphic shapes, and more. Below, I’ve detailed a brief sampling of some of the members’ efforts:

Sharla Jean Hoskin, *Gothic Pattern in Blue and Velvet*, screenprint and monotype

Sharla Jean Hoskin’s piece Gothic Pattern in Blue and Velvet is an energized work that looks as though it’s been ripped from the pages of a contemporary version of The Grammar of Ornament.

It is simultaneously ordered and disordered, modern yet informed by past tradition. The monotype moniker tells us that this work is one of a kind - negating the reproducibility that’s become synonymous with the printmaking medium. This piece is one of a few in the show that relies heavily on abstract elements.

In Mischievous Dog, the viewer is faced with an all-too-familiar pitfall of canine ownership: a mutinous dog standing contritely above its latest work, an unraveled roll of toilet paper. To me, at least, the content of the work is painfully relatable. But more than this, Jody Bruns has convincingly rendered the depth of a chaotic scene with sparse color and linear mastery. Bruns’ and Hoskin’s prints will be on display alongside the equally-incredible work of other printmakers from the ensemble, including Lorie Lee Andrews, Tom Brown, Killeen Chilcote, Meredith Erwin, Melissa Hauger, James Hubbard, Kenton Pratt, Jolynn Reigeluth, and Aren Straiger.

The 67th Street Printmakers Group Show is on display in the Gallery Annex for the month of February. All works are available for purchase and can be viewed through our online gallery or in-person during regular gallery hours from 9 AM - 5 PM, Monday through Friday.