[Baren]: The mailing list / discussion forum for woodblock printmaking. Baren Digest Monday, 24 May 1999 Volume 07 : Number 572 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Cucamongie@aol.com Date: Sun, 23 May 1999 09:09:11 EDT Subject: [Baren 4454] Re: Baren Digest V7 #571 Horacio - I finally had a chance to check out your prints - they're great - a very expressionistic look to them, which I like very much - you also asked about McClain's - as far as I know, they don't have a website, but their email address is mcclains@aol.com, and I'm sure they'd be glad to answer any questions, send you an updated catalog, etc. By the way, one of my prints (plus a little bio) is in the latest McClain's catalog (which just came out). Apparently the dog in the print bears a striking resemblance to the resident dog at McClain's! Best to all, Sarah ------------------------------ From: Cucamongie@aol.com Date: Sun, 23 May 1999 09:15:25 EDT Subject: [Baren 4455] Re: Baren Digest V7 #571 Andrea wrote: > I want to thank you for realizing that at their best my "decorative" > prints are indeed political. Thank you Andrea, as I have a similar focus in my prints (the animal world & nature) I can really relate to what you're talking about! You have put into words what I think about every day - Best regards, Sarah ------------------------------ From: Gayle Wohlken Date: Sun, 23 May 1999 11:12:03 -0400 Subject: [Baren 4456] Re: Baren Digest V7 #571 Horacio said: > > I agree that woodcuts are out-of-date as an instrument for > > political purposes. and Dave said: > But now that TV has done the showing, there's nothing left but the > commenting, and we don't need a graphic art for that ... True, the woodcut is not NEEDED as an instrument for political purposes, but since the woodcut is art that can appear as bold, it is a perfect vehicle for artists who have something political to say. After all, artists have something to say about everything. The medium (as I like to do it--spontaneous and direct)is strong, and the image can carry well across the room. So if an image happens to have a political statement, I believe eyes are drawn straight to it. . * * * Dave said: > I don't know about lithography Brad, but the stuff I'm using is simply a > good sticky glue (kind of like the 'mucilage' that we used to use back > in school, but a bit stonger). Is it clear? Or amber? Describe. Gayle ------------------------------ From: James G Mundie Date: Sun, 23 May 1999 13:32:13 -0400 Subject: [Baren 4457] political prints I think that the place of the political print in society has changed greatly in our age of mass media. In past centuries when news travelled at a much slower clip, such prints would have been the primary means of communication -- dispersed as broadsides to the populance to support or slander one cause or another. People still make prints with strong political statements, but the ability of these to radically affect the population is lessened because the prints are typically produced in small numbers and displayed in galleries to be seen by a small number of people. So, it's really a matter of quantity now. The political printmaker must be satisfied to make a deep impression (no pun intended) on a few people in a much more personal one-on-one interaction. Ironically, the internet may serve to carry the message further, but still only a tiny segment of the population is likely to "get" the message. One must also consider that the sort of prints that Kollwitz made were quite a different animal from an anti-Martin Luther broadside. The former is a work of art bespeaking universal truths, whereas the latter is a rather narrow bit of propaganda. I think it is not enough to make a distinction between "political" and "decorative" printmaking. Surely, beauty is its own justification, but are not Kollwitz's often brutal images not beautiful as well as political? Rather than choose to ally ourselves with one printmaking faction or another, we should concentrate on the artful attainment of our pictoral goals. Mise le meas, James Mundie, Philadelphia USA ------------------------------ From: Jean Eger Date: Sun, 23 May 1999 13:51:11 -0700 Subject: [Baren 4459] Re: Baren Digest V7 #571 The NYC MOMA published a book called "Thinking Print," which has a good variety of samples of recent political prints. When I think of political prints, I usually think first of Sue Coe's prints and paintings. She can exaggerate and demonize the most ordinary occurence. She protests a wide variety of injustices and evils, not the least of which is the treatment of animals by slaughter houses. I have a book of hers called "Dead Meat." One can't measure the effectiveness of political art by whether it affects world events. To say political prints are obsolete is a very provocative comment, David, and I am sure you knew I would respond. I can't type a lot because I am not supposed to use my left hand right now. There is no catalog for the Berkeley ARt Center show, but if you will send me your name and address, I'll send you an announcement flyer with a lot of illustrations and a statement by the curator. jeaneger@lanminds.com Here's a link to a print of Coe's called "Karposi's Sarcoma" http://wwol.inre.asu.edu/coe.html Her works are hard to find online. Here's a review http://webdelsol.com/FLASHPOINT/ http://www.vegan.com/issues/1998/nov98/deadmeat.htm here's a couple of images: http://segura.com/Coe.html "Coe is a British-born artist and journalist and has resided in New York City since the 1970s. She began her career as an illustrator with The New York Times, and the demand for her work has resulted in shows throughout the U.S. and the world. Coe has spent the last 20 years observing and responding to the world's injustices by creating numerous series of lithographs and etchings that illustrate details of the human condition. Her works focus on the victims of war, racism, sexism, and cultural and economic inequity. This exhibit of 80 prints includes moving and confrontational images of men, women, children and animals seldom seen on the evening news. The artist's mission is to force the viewer to contend with the realities of the world, not merely accept them as normal." From description of The University of Alabama's Sarah Moody Gallery exhibition, "Heel of the Boot: Prints by Sue Coe" from Feb. 6-March 1, 1998. ------------------------------ End of Baren Digest V7 #572 ***************************