The Carnegie Center for Art & History

The Mid America Print Council Conference was held in Southern Indiana at Indiana University Southeast and University of Louisville October 5-8, 2016. The four days of non-stop printmaking was also spread all over Southern Indiana and Louisville for many exhibitions. The conference theme “Print Matters, Printing Matters” was very well apparent in the exhibition that was held at the Carnegie Center for Art and History. Several hundred prints entered but only seventy made the exhibition curated by former printmaking professor of IUS, Brian Jones. The exhibition was mixed with a variety of style through out the prints and would bring something enjoyable to anyone’s eye.

Walking into this exhibit, it was very well structured and open for the viewer’s eye to wonder and explore. The exhibit included three-dimensional work as well as framed two-dimensional work, which was pleasing. Some works of art was held on pedestals like Mark Snyders Dress Rehersal and Donna Stallard’s hdr#13: gurgol. Another piece that wasn’t bound by a frame was Victoria Tasch’s The Centerfold Series: 3 Moths.

Art Werner, Life Below, 2015

In the gallery, a piece that is framed by Art Werner, titled Life Below is an etching and aquatint created in 2015. This print was awarded second of all seventy prints. This print has muted colors in terms of hues of yellow, blue, and green. It does not have a wide variety of color but still draws attention. This is a larger print from a birds eye view perspective of what seems to be a busy city. The way the yellow tint works on the streets acts as if the cars are making it glow. This composition is easy to enjoy because the eye never gets bored with the intricate details. The city scape is a reminisce of his old New Jersey home as he roamed the streets as a teenage boy. Some of his prints even show film resemblance to Alfred Hitchcock. Werger also creates suburbanscapes, narratives, landscapes and a part of his work is called “submerged” where all of the prints are what you would see underwater. Through out these other categories of his work, he still applies the principals and processes used to create the beautiful print Life Below.

Anthony Lazorko, The Organs, 2014

Another landscape based print is Anthony Lazorko’s The Organs. This print is a woodcut print, depicting a panoramic view of a vast land. The print was created in 2014 with a width of 48 inches and height of 15 inches. Anthony Lazorko “seeks America in Woodcuts.” In this case he is seeking the Organ Mountains in New Mexico. The focus of his work was to depict something about the American experience. While consuming this print, the viewer can take away the large towering mountains. This wood cut is multi-color, involving many separate blocks to create the rich natural color.

The variety of the prints and installations of this exhibition was really successful. Though there wasn’t an over all theme, the aesthesis of each work connected to one another. One variable that could’ve been done better is the lighting. After looking at images that were taken, some you can see reflection in and some have a yellow tint to them. Other than that, the experience to see these amazing artists come together in one large room was really something to see. Hosting MAPC at the University is something not worth missing!