The Imprint of War: Responses in Print, an exhibition curated by the fall 2011 Museum Studies Exhibition Seminar taught by Janet McCall, the Director of the Society for Contemporary Craft, will open to the public on October 31.
The opening reception will be held Monday, October 31 from 6:30-8:30 pm in the University Art Gallery in the Frick Fine Arts Building. Gallery hours are Monday-Friday 10:00-4:00. Please note the Gallery will be closed November 23-25 for Thanksgiving Break.
A new exhibition, The Imprint of War: Responses in Print, features three distinct print artists, working in different styles of printmaking from woodblock to intaglio, whose works are the reactions to wars, both historical and contemporary. Showing the intimate, miniature prints by Jacques Callot, the 8.5x11’’ images by Nicolas Naughton, and the large, confrontational 4x8’ works of Sandow Birk, this exhibition focuses on the repetitions of history: unending wars and continual responses.
When asked his thoughts on being shown with artists Callot and Birk, Naughton states, “It's quite an honor to be showing with two artists who I have much respect for. This show will hopefully greet people as a conversation spanning many generations and speak to the larger issues that underlie all of our works. Birk and I are carrying a torch passed on by artists like Goya, Callot and Kollwitz, and we are not likely to be the last artists speaking to war in our work.” On his own work Naughton says, “My work is about not diminishing in the shadow of stronger forces; rather I want to rise to challenge them. It’s about the importance of empathy. When we cannot empathize with those who suffer, we allow their pain to continue with license. If we cannot empathize with foreign people or people with different political views, then communication is handicapped through intellectual stagnation. Through images, horrific or otherwise, we can create sympathetic reactions. For a moment what we see is a reflection of ourselves and what happens in those images is happening to us.”