Check out the latest news from our friends at the Frederick Nichols Studio:

During November and December, a group of galleries from Charlottesville to Orange, along the Route 20N corridor, will host a “Focus on the Print,” featuring the work of regional printmakers.

Since ancient times the urge to replicate images has been a goal of artists.  Before the invention of the printing press methods were invented to duplicate artwork, such as cast seals and relief carvings.  They were often used to disseminate information, religious, political, and cultural, to the masses.

As artists became involved in the pursuit of what has been called the “democratic” form of art, interest in multiples as discipline distinct from painting or drawing began to emerge. Some artists were inspired by process, from woodcuts to etchings.  Manipulating the image by invention and design became central to the process.

With the advent of computer prints, the lines between craftsmanship and the mechanical have been blurred.  But traditional methods continue to interest artists, and many artists now merge the digital with other methods. Conversely, a recent development in printmaking has been the monoprint, the technique of using printmaking techniques to produce one print, where spontaneous invention and gestural markings are central to the process. For the “Focus on the Print,” all forms of contemporary printmaking will be represented, from experimental to traditional.

On the Downtown Mall in Charlottesville, Chroma Projects Art Lab will feature Charlottesville artist Rosamond Casey in the gallery during the month of November with her book/game installation, Catch the Baby, that involves a giclee’ print process for the project’s imagery. Their December show will feature recent work by Richmond Printmakers’ One/Off group, whose members demonstrate a rich diversity of printmaking approaches from wood block prints to etching and engraving with subjects ranging from abstract to landscape to figurative work which often contains a sense of humor.

Second Street Gallery, also on the Downtown Mall, and Les Yeux Des Monde Gallery on Rt 20, just North of Charlottesville, are collaborating on a major 25 year survey of the art of Dean Dass, professor of printmaking at UVA.  His most recent prints and paintings will be shown at LYDM while Second Street will have a range of his work from the early 1980s till today. The exhibition will open at LYMD on Nov 18 and at Second Street Gallery on the First Friday in December.

Further up Rt 20N in Barboursville, Frederick Nichols Studio will be having a mini-retrospective covering 35 years of Nichols’ printmaking career during November and December. Tours of the studio will be offered.  Nichols Gallery Annex will feature prints by ten artists from around the region, including silkscreens by Ed Bordett of Roanoke and Lou Stovall of Washington, DC, monoprints by Frank Hobbs and David Freed of Richmond, and digital collages by Charlottesville artist McCrea Kudravetz.

Fifteen miles from Barboursville is the Art Center in Orange.  In November 3rd thru December 23rd, the Center will feature  a group show of artists from the DC area Washington Printmakers Gallery, whose foundation promotes fine-art printmaking by fostering the creation and appreciation of hand-pulled, artist-made prints.  Just north of Orange is Woodberry Forest School, where the school’s Baker Art Gallery is featuring “Six Printmakers,” including Kelly Lonergan, who teaches art at Woodberry and curated the show, Dennis Winston of Richmond, and Russell Richards of Charlottesville, whose works represent a variety of printmaking methods and materials. The exhibition will run from November 1st through December 18th.

For information regarding individual gallery hours, exhibition dates, openings, and special events, visit www.frednichols.com.

Silkscreen:
Autumn Over Warm Springs
silkscreen
32″ x 48″
[Fred Nichols]