OtisFitToPrint

Okay, well, three so far for this stylish little Laguna press. Linda Dare of the Letterpress Lab donated it to us this summer to take some fo the load off our larger press which gets heavy use. She has some good tales about the woman who donated it to her many years ago so I’ll update this post with that info asap.

Our new semester has begun. We have two new techs in the lab- very exciting! Both are LA area artists, Lorenzo Hurtado, and Jen Grella. Stop by and say hello. The final lab schedule will be posted next Tuesday Sept 3, after we’ve all settled in, but expect more open lab hours and a few more classes.

Go to litho lasses to see what Maggie White is up to at Tamarind!

Right now-check out:

Robert Rauschenberg at the Long Beach Museum of Art. Until October 19. Do not miss his large scale prints!

Looky See- in Ben Maltz Gallery at Otis. Until September 13. This show is so great I can’t stop blabbing about it to everyone. From the website…. “artists who draw, cut, film, pin, perforate, perform, and journal.” Terrific large scale installations, much to see…

Ann Hamilton at GeminiGEL. Until October 3rd. You cannot miss this show. One Otis Printmaking class had the good fortune to be visiting Gemini last spring as the printers there were working with Ann Hamilton’s pieces and we got to see the printing in progress. They are really wonderful- delicate lithographs of silk organza as well as constructions of ear trumpets and felt coats. If that doesn’t pique your interest, I don’t know what will.

Upcoming:

Identity: Unlimited Editions. The Craft and Folk Art Museum of Los Angeles. September 21- Jan 11.
Work involving issues of identity from the members of the Los Angeles Printmaking Society, curated by Patrick Merrill. If you’ve never been to CFAM, this is a good time to check it out. It is a great museum very near LACMA so make a day of it. Excellent gift shop too.

So I got this note from Phyllis McGibbon to check out this cool blog-

http://printeresting.org/

and it is indeed great, filled with news, reviews and DIY, with a delightful section on critical discourse. A refreshing change from “how to”…

But I must confess what captured my attention this Sunday morning while I ate my Eggo was the mechanical genius of the latte printer. I always love the butterfly the Urth Cafe always carves into my honey vanilla latte. Inventor Oleksiy Pikalo uses and old plotter and edible ink to take this to a whole new level. Way to etch that foam!

See it here in action on the Printeresting blog.

Also, last night, while visiting the Otis Faculty exhibition at Track 16 Gallery in Bergamot Station I checked out the Santa Monica Museum of Art, currently showing The Puppet Show. See work by Louise Bourgeoise, Kiki Smith, Matt Mullican and many more exploring the imagery of puppets. I must admit the show made me a bit nervous- like a carny circus does but there was an excellent interview with the Muppets and an beautiful series of etchings from William Kentridge. Check it out now- it closes August 9.

Print Matter(s) California Printmaking Now, curated by Jennifer Anderson and Elana Kundell opens this Saturday June 28th at the Studio Channel Islands, (SCIART) an hour north of LA. The opening reception is June 28th 3-6pm. The exhibition runs June 28-August 11. On Saturday, August 2nd at 4:30pm there will be a Curator’s Round Table Discussion. Jennifer Anderson will also give a water-based monotype workshop that day at SCIART. Please see their website if you’d like to participate. Check out Jennifer’s blog for in-depth info on the participating artists.

The International Printing Museum in Carson is a great place to visit. They are hosting a lecture on July 19th by Kitty Maryatt, Director of the Scripps College Press, “Emulating Gutenberg with B-42 Type.” She will discuss handsetting a facsimile page of the Gutenberg Bible. No small task! Here is a sample image of a Gutenberg Bible.

Rachelle Woo Chuang from the IPM got in touch to let us know about some events going on there. She also updated us that the IPM will be offering papermaking classes over the summer.

The Escondido Art Museum , just north of San Diego hosts “Contemporary Ruin”. It opens June 28th, “For this exhibition, members of the Los Angeles Printmaking Society explore the stunning, uncomfortable and sometimes unpleasant aspects of the ruins of our contemporary society.”- Escondido Art Museum. While you are there also check out “Warning Signs” prints by R.H. Brownfield

Folk Maggie Ongoing- online

Otis’s own terrific teacher and Print and Lab Press tech, Maggie White will be leaving to attend the Master Printer program at Tamarind for 9 months in Albuquerque, NM next month. We will miss her terribly, but mucho congrats to her for getting accepted into such a fine program! Check out her website MargaretRWhite.com for a chance to support her in this endeavor and buy some prints. Yes- it is a shameless art shopping plug but you’ll be glad you started collecting her work now. Besides, who wants IKEA art when you can get the real thing?

After a short post semester hiatus…

See this now at the Hammer - And Then Again…Printed Series

until July 15. From William Hogarth’s and Jacques Callot’s crazy characters, to Mona Hatoum’s hair and some Coyote Stories from Chris Burden ,this is a show not to be missed.

Recently checked out….

Rhythms of Modern Life: British Prints 1914-1939

at The MFA in Boston. Futurist, Modernist and Voricist prints with a very contemporary feel-a lot of them reminded me of either graffiti or anime, with Sybil Andrews stealing the show, I thought, with her bright and dynamic linocuts.

and
Grand Scale: Monumental Prints in the Age of Dürer and Titian

Absolutely amazing show of breaking the boundaries of size and limitations of the printing press by piecing together large images from single sheets to make wall size prints. I got busted trying to photograph the exhibition from the mezzanine because they so often don’t show the scale of these prints in the catalog, other wise I’d post a pic here for you. Here is one of the pieces where you can get an idea of scale. Imagine this towering over your head and filled with tiny little intricate drawings and stories that you could investigate for days.

Albrecht Dürer, “The Triumphal Arch of Maximilian I,” 1515, woodcut, National Gallery of Art, Washington.

Check out the senior show this Friday night May 9 from 6-9 pm at Otis. Lots of prints, print installations, clothing, takeaways, posters and more all to be found on the 6th floor Ahmanson and all over the Galef Fine Arts Building. Here’s a small sampling…

The last printmaking lab open lab time is May 2- 6-10pm.

The last days to pick up your items are:

Wed. May 7th 3-6pm and Thurs. May 8th-12-pm-3pm

There will be no printing as we will be cleaning and doing inventory then. Please take all of your screens, plates, drawer items, prints in rack, prints in folders. Nothing will be spared after May 8. And you know I really mean it if I am committing the sin of bold italic.

We are pretty much closed for the summer although CE and Foundation classes will be held.

I’m no filmmaker but I couldn’t help but post a tiny smidgen of all of the hard work going on towards the end of the semester…

Cheryl printing a monotype on a recycled tablecloth simulating wine stains for her project on memory and clothing and textiles. (no sound until the middle)

Joanna, Candy and Andrew working on plates. Candy is meditatively filing away at the edge of her large drypoint and Andrew is prepping his litho plate for print by fanning it with the creaky old fan that everyone laughs at, but is the perfect tool for the job. Joanna is wiping a large drypoint engraving.

Local news- this week is Big Sunday- monster community service event in LA and the southland- check it out! Big Sunday does hundreds of projects every year for a wide variety of social service and nonprofit organizations all over the greater Los Angeles area. Our volunteers paint, build, repair, plant, play, more…

Check out the events and exhibitions page above to find out!

I got an email from LaMano Press the other day requesting help. Here it is. How can you resist?

Artemio Rodriguez is in town and he is working on creating the
mural on the exterior of the Grafico Movil, a 1947 delivery truck
that will be transformed into a Mobil Print Shop and Gallery.
He is looking for volunteers to help him with the process of creating images using car-painting techniques. We will be working on this project daily between the hours of 8 am - 9 pm.Please call us if you are interested in participating in this important project.
(323) 227 - 1275
Sincerely,
La Mano Press
1749 N. Main St. Los Angeles, CA

Here are some exhibition opportunities as well.
Oregon Ink spot print exchange
No entry fee. If you haven’t done a print exchange it is pretty fun. you print a certain number of prints and other artists do the same and then you exchange. Generally you get the portfolio of prints- usually 10-15 prints in the mail and it’s just like your birthday- printed treats from all over- you never know what will be in there! Often the portfolios travel and are shown in different galleries etc. as well. Another one to check out is PrintZero. You missed this year’s but you can see past exchanges online. It’s a great way to see other’s work, get your work out there, be part of the worldwide community of printmakers, and improve your home decor.

Brand 37 Works on paper
Deadline June 10
at the Brand Library in Glendale. You have to scroll down a bit for the prospectus.

Identity: Unlimited Editions
The Craft and Folk art Museum of Los Angeles
Los Angeles Printmaking Society member invitational
Deadline June 30
Great museum in mid-Wilshire near LACMA. If you haven’t been check it out.

And…

This week during the lunchtime talks- last minute but it’s not too late to eat your sandwich and learn more about the amazing Durer! While you are there check out the Kara Walker exhibit…

Wednesday, March 26, 12:30pm
Albrecht Dürer’s Hercules Conquering the Molionide Twins, 1496-98

More info

That’s it for now. I’m off the the Southern Graphics Council Printmaking conference in Virginia tomorrow so I’ll report on that over on the events page when I get back.

Thanks for all the feedback everyone!
The Lab schedule is now posted in easier to read format and some links have been fixed.
Look for some changes/info soon on the following things.

• More books and artists we all like to look at (fast faves: Hatch Show Print, Printmaking as Therapy)
• What next- where to go and print AFTER graduation. Ahh… the eternal question. You can always buy a press instead of a car like I did when I graudated from college- but then again I lived in a city with great public transportation at that point. (fast tip La Mano Press!) fast tip #2 - set up on your kitchen table like this gentleman did!)
• where to get your art and designs printed in screenprint format in bulk
• Jobs in the print world
• Super local resources for supplies for car-free people..hmm in LA that takes some investigation- tips anyone?
• Bigger images and more pix