Seeking Screenprinting @ Artomatic

A close look reveals Megan Maher's screenprinted gestures in "Roller"

Artomatic, dubbed "DC's Biggest Creative Event" can intimidate even the sturdiest art lover. With over 1,000 exhibitors, the 11-floor mega museum requires at least two visits to take it all in. A catalog query of screenprinting turned up only three artists, but many do not list our cherished medium, as for some (including this blogger) screenprinting is merely a means to an end. 

Seeking screenprinting: on the 11th floor, Pyramid's own Lynette Spencer and Screenprint Associate Marty Ittner. Lynette's Severe REM is a layered dance of color and drawing, while Marty's Lake infuses cut-up scraps of screenprints in to her encaustic collage. On the 4th floor, color scribbles, wax resist and screenprinting mingle in Megan Maher's buoyant Roller and Mist. The always irreverent and inventive Dave Peterson screenprints on distressed and painted reclaimed wood, and yes, tee shirts. Find Branddave on the 9th floor. While on that floor, check out David Barr who lists his work as paintings, but the Warhol screenprinting influence is undeniable. Look closely...what do you think?

Our visits uncovered these fabulous examples, but more screenprinting lurks in the immense exhibition, surely! Found more at Artomatic? Send us a note and we'll run a followup feature.

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Artomatic

May 18 - June 23rd 2012

1851 S. Bell Street

Crystal City, VA

Metro: Crystal City (blue line)

Hours:

• Wednesdays and Thursdays: noon – 10 pm
• Fridays and Saturdays: noon – 1 am
• Sundays: noon – 5 pm
• Closed Mondays and Tuesdays

Send us your screenprint finds with artist name and floor location.

Pyramid's Party

All hands were on deck at Pyramid's April 14th birthday celebration. Digital Associate Franc Rosario enlisted his daughter's help with the balloons; Executive Director Jose Dominguez struck a familiar cellphone pose with his son Owen (who is a reliable customer at the screenprint table). Cara Hunt broke out her personal supply of transparent base and Becca Katz and Deborah Dixon manned the stations of our 2-color paper bag printing demo. Thanks to Deborah and Yvonne Reyes for volunteering at the screenprint station.

Sargasso Sea Scrolls

A collaborative effort between Pyramid Atlantic and the Sargasso Sea Alliance (SSA), the screen printed Sargasso Sea Scrolls are now on view in the Washington Printmakers Gallery (WPG). The scrolls illuminate the rich biodiversity of the Sargasso Sea and conclude months of collaboration between artists, printmakers and papermakers. The waters around the island of Bermuda sustain a swathe of floating Sargassum seaweed: a breeding and feeding ground for a wide variety of sealife. Identified as a “Hope Spot” by renowned oceanographer Dr. Sylvia Earle, the Sargasso Sea merits special protection because of its unique habitat. The Sargasso Sea Scrolls will broaden awareness and serve as a fundraiser to further the missions of both Pyramid and SSA.

Please join us for a special unveiling reception on Earth Day, Sunday, April 22nd from 5-7 pm.

WPG: 8230 Georgia Ave. Silver Spring MD

A small smattering of the scroll collaborators: (top to bottom) Screenprint Associate Becca Katz, Digital Associate Franc Rosario, Artistic Director Gretchen Schermerhorn, screenprinter Allan Akman, Board Member and Artist Jenny Freestone, Letterpress Associate Julia Louie and letterpress printer Erin Brophy, Resident Artist Christin Ripley and Gretchen making abaca paper for the scrolls.

Screenprint Associate Marty Ittner and her favorite shark.

Calling All Competitors!

Go for the gold, and stay for the fun at our Olympic party

Date: Saturday, April 14th

Opening Ceremony: 2:00pm

Closing Ceremony: 5:00pm with poetry reading upstairs directly afterwards

Host: Pyramid Atlantic Art Center, 8230 Georgia Avenue, Silver Spring, MD 20910

Help us celebrate 31 years of creativity!

Bring your team spirit and enjoy award winning fare, participate in hands-on art activities in every studio, and see the Pyramid Atlantic Member's Exhibition. 

It Came from the Deep

Top to bottom: Christin Ripley, Gretchen Shermerhorn, Elizabeth Graeber, Maria Rykova, Nora Burghardt and Lynette Spencer

Pyramid's spring print exchange In the Forest & It Came from the Deep included 6 that utilized screen printing. Resident artist Christin Ripley created a feeling wheel on handmade paper, complete with a hand tied sailor's knot and moveable pointer. Artistic director Gretchen Shermerhorn started with etching on aluminum plates, which ended up being the prints themselves. Screenprinting was the obvious choice to add her white plant/sea creature. Elizabeth Graeber's underwater whale was printed in 5 colors. Interns Nora Burghardt and Maria Rykova both learned the process from executive director Jose Dominguez and entered prints. Lynette Spencer touched on a twin theme with her 4 color Incomrehensible Connection. The 13 print folio came housed in a handmade clam shell box printed with, what else? Screenprinting.

Special Post: Masters of Multiplicity

Richard Estes, D Train, 1988

That's a screenprint? These words repeated as I scampered around Multiplicity the printmaking tour de force now on view at Smithsonian's American Art Museum. Plucked from their permanent collection, the grand exhibition includes many stellar examples of screenprinting. Richard Estes' D Train (above) is a mind boggling masterpiece. Color counting was futile—as was trying to imagine how the print was engineered—so I succumbed to taking in the classic New York scene, pre 9-11.

Favorite artist and erstwhile graphic designer Barbara Kruger (top row, below) combines found lithograph photography with her trademark typeface Futura Bold in Untitled (We will no longer be seen and not heard). "Using sign language, gestures and words to create and contradict meaning, [Kruger] employs language to question cultural stereotypes." Ocean Surface (middle row) by Latvian born Vija Celmins provides a brilliant example of achieving subtle tonal variation in the binary world of screenprinting. A close look reveals the many gradual grey plates that build the illusion of gradation. Ross Bleckner's Just Because #2 (bottom row) shatters the stereotype of flat color screen prints. By printing with translucent inks and glossy iridescent overlays, his biomorphic shapes pulse with luminosity. I often ask: which artists are pushing the boundaries of screenprinting? The multiple choice is mostly here.  — Marty Ittner

Top to bottom: Barbara Kruger, Vija Celmins and Ross Bleckner

Multiplicity

1st floor West, American Art Museum

8th & F Sts. NW, Washington, DC
November 11, 2011 – March 11, 2012

See more: slideshows, programs and related content

Believe it or Not

Kismet: Christin Ripley on the aptly named street next to Pyramid.

Micah Beard rearranges the squeegees.

Of the many artists who pass through Pyramid, Christin Ripley seemed destined to return. Seen in the studio working on her pet projects (from hand rolling bright yellow paper yarn to casting thick pulp paper) Ripley brims with ideas. Her keen observation did not stop with her work. She saw the need for a better squeegee storage solution and conceived, designed and built our new wooden rack that hangs over the sink, installed with a little help from Digital Associate Franc Rosario. We look forward to seeing her screen printing projects that are in the works. Big thanks for the awesome squeegee rack!