2019 in Hindsight

THE PRINTS

On the eve of 2020, it's time to look back in hindsight on all the exhibitions and other adventures of the Ambos Lados International Print Exchange.

E X H I B I T I O N S

We had 3 major exhibitions in the United States, and one formal presentation in Oaxaca in 2019.

DALLAS

March 6 - 9, 2019

We exhibited at the North Texas SGCI Conference 2019,

at the University of Texas at Arlington

SANTA FE

July 12 - August 2, 2019

We exhibited at the Argos Studio/Gallery

 in Santa Fe, New Mexico

OAXACA

August 16, 2019

We gave a formal presentation of Ambos Lados

at the IAGO (Instituto de Artes Graficas de Oaxaca),

which was founded by Francisco Toledo

SILVER CITY, New Mexico

October, 2019

The Ambos Lados exhibit

was part of the 4th Annual Southwest Print Fiesta,

in Silver City, New Mexico

H I G H L I G H T S

The Ambos Lados adventure has been more than exhibitions.  In the summer of 2019, three of us --Manuel Guerra, Marco Sanchez, and Karl Whitaker -- toured Mexico from Guadalajara to Oaxaca, meeting Ambos Lados printamakers, and other print maestros, along the way.  What a humbling trip!

GUADALAJARA

Printing on the streets of Guadalajara,

with the tortilla printing press of Los Tres Gatos

URUAPAN, MICHOACAN

The printmakers of Michoacan produce incredible print portfolios,

from limited resources. Our visit to MAPECO was a real eye-opener.

PUEBLA

What a great young printmaking community in Puebla,

centered around Museo Taller Erasto Cortes!

During the Santa Fe exhibition, the members of Horned Toad Prints of El Paso, run by Manuel Guerra, were well received by all the extraordinary printmaking/art institutions of New Mexico.

TAMARIND INSTITUTE

The Horned Toad Prints crew around the litho press,

with Brandon Gunn (second from left)

of Tamarind Institute in Albuquerque

Manuel Guerra

with Valpuri Remling,

Master Printer of Tamarind

NATIONAL HISPANIC

CULTURAL CENTER

Horned Toad Prints crew

with Jadira Gurule,

curator at the National Hispanic Cultural Center

 in Albuquerque

TOM HUCK

OUTLAW PRINTMAKER

Manuel Guerra reunites with Tom Huck,

at Landfall Press in Santa Fe  --

Tom Huck is an Outlaw Printmaker

Meanwhile, I don't get enough news from Oaxaca, but the printmaking community is very active.  Oaxaca, in my opinion, is the Mecca of printmaking worldwide.

PRIMER CONCURSO ESTATAL DE GRABADO

ALEJANDRO SANTIAGO

The organizers of Ambos Lados from Mexico --

Taller Grafica Libre of Zaachila, Oaxaca --

won first (Beatriz Rivas) and third (Adrian Aguirre) place

in the First Annual State Contest Printmaking Alejandro Santiago

ZAANARTE

Adrian Aguirre and Beatriz Rivas of Taller Grafica Libre,

which sponsored Ambos Lados in Mexico,

participated in Zaanarte mural project

in Zaachila, Oaxaca

S P O T L I G H T S

Previously I blogged about many of the other printmakers

who participated in Ambos Lados,

in 3 different SPOTLIGHTS blog posts

In the previous posting on this blog, are more stories about other Ambos Lados printmakers.

More stories about other Ambos Lados printmakers

And who knows, maybe the adventure has only begun....

FRANCISCO TOLEDO

We were sadden by the death in September of

Mexican artist and printmaker Francisco Toledo of Oaxaca,

who started the IAGO

and elevated printmaking all over Mexico,

having a big impact on the Ambos Lados print exchange

Random Bits about Ambos Lados Printmakers

tinyurl.com/alrandom

The printmakers from Ambos Lados are doing interesting things all over the world.  Unfortunately I only touch on a fraction of the printmakers here, as my vision is limited from here in Albuquerque.

Manuel Guerra had too much fun

organizing Ambos Lados on the US side of the border

ALEC DEMPSTER

Alec Dempster meets Beatriz Rivas and Adrian Aguirre

of Taller Grafica Libre in Zaachila, Oaxaca

Alec Demspter organized another print portfolio, with printmakers from 20 countries -- Tierra Herida -- which was on view at the National Palace when we visited downtown Mexico City in August 2019.  This portfolio was previously exhibited in Chicago and Milwaukee. We have a huge respect for the effort he put into this project!

J CARNEGIE MUIR

J Carnegie Muir from Australia,

posted about Ambos Lados on his Instagram

back in September

IRMA REYES ALMANZA and SAMUEL DIAZ GAONA

Irma Reye Almanza and Samuel Diaz Gaona

conduct a live radio interview from Uruapan, Michoacan --

with Manuel Guerra and Karl Whitaker,

who were in Silver City, New Mexico

for the Southwest Print Fiesta

(October 12, 2019)

ORLANDO ALMANZA

Orlando Almanza of Habana, Cuba

mentions Ambos Lados

as one of the highlights of 2019

OCTAVIO IRVING

Octavio Irving of Habana, Cuba

posts about the time he produced 

Tanya Rich's print for Ambos Lados  --

Octavio Irving used to run the 

Taller de Experimental de Grafica in Habana

when the Obamas visited

OMAR GONZALEZ

Omar Gonzalez participated in the "Siete Printmakers Artists Alive"

 event in Corpus Christi, Texas, on Labor Day weekend 2019, 

with some other major printmakers -- Benjamin Munoz, Kill Choy,

Reinaldo Gil Zambrano, Eric Cuevas, Hugo Juarez, Lars Roeder

CHRISTIN APODACA

Christin Apodaca was in Los Angeles in December 2019

participating in the West Coast Craft fair

ADRIAN AGUIRRE

Adrian Aguirre's print was accepted 

Bienal Internacional de Grabado y Arte Impreso en Pequeño Formato --

an Argentina Biennial 

MARY TEICHMAN

"Evening in Shanghai" color etching, 18 x 20 inches

from Mary Teichman's Chinese experience

Mary Teichman went to Guangzhou (Canton), China, with the "Printmakers Network of Southern New England."  She exhibited in a group show at the University City Art Museum of the Guangzhou Fine Arts Academy, and also had an individual show of 25 prints, in April, 2019. 

"On the Li River" color etching,  16 x 18 inches

from Mary Teichman's Chinese experience

DAVID CONTRERAS

David Contreras (middle, blue shirt), 

was part of the summer program 2019

at the Tamarind Institute, in Albuquerque

HENRY MORALES

Henry Morales brings his press 

to Coronado Mall in Albuquerque,

and opened up an Etsy shop

DARLENE KALYNKA

Darlene Kalynka of Canada

had a print show in Albuquerque in September

at Remarque Print Workshop

JULIANNA KIRWIN

Julianna Kirwin of Albuquerque

is planning another trip to Oaxaca

in February, 2020

Julianna is also showing a large print that she made,

based on Diego Rivera's fresco in San Francisco

"Pan American Unity,"

at the  Hispanic Cultural Center in Albuquerque, January 24 - 30, 2020

GONZALO ESPINOSA

Gonzalo Espinosa abdicated from Tucson,

and is now sculpting whales in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

LAURIE D BROWN

Laurie D Brown of Seattle,

co-organized a print show between Oaxaca and Seattle

called "Mas Alla de las Fronteras" --

and it was on display at the IAGO

when and where we had the Ambos Lados presentation

on August 16th, 2019 (a month before Francisco Toledo passed away)

PAVEL ACEVEDO

Pavel Acevedo is now part of the Speedball team

TORU SUGITA

Toru Sugita had a residency 

in at Taller Grafica Libre in Zaachila in 2017/18,

and he also exhibited at Espacio Centro --

Maestro Shinzaburo Takeda (second from left) showed up at the opening --

Toru is also represented by Davidson Galleries in Seattle

JUANA ESTRADA HERNANDEZ

Juana Estrada is a graduate print student

at the University of New Mexico,

and her prints are showing up at exhibits all over the state,

such as at the "Obsessions" exhibition at the Southwest Print Fiesta in 2019,

and the pictured print is in the "New Mexico:Living Relief" show, Feb 2019,

at Remarque Print Workshop in Albuquerque

CELESTE DE LUNA

Celeste de Luna's print "Necrocitizen"

is featured on the cover of  the book 

"Fencing in Democracy" by Miguel Diaz-Barriga and Margaret Dorsey

published by Duke University Press

MARCO SANCHEZ

Marco Sanchez organized the portfolio 

"Saints, Superheroes, and the Demonized"

which was exhibited at the University of Dallas 

in March, 2019, during the SGCI conference

J LEIGH GARCIA

J Leigh Garcia organized the "Tejanos: The Borders Crossed Us"

print portfolio, which was exhibited in Fort Worth at TCU,

during the North Texas SGCI conference in March --

this portfolio also being shown at Mexic-Arte Museum in Austin, Texas,

as part of the "Unseen Prints from the Mexic-Arte Collection,"

December 13, 2019 - March 1, 2020  --

and congratulations on her new professor job at Kent State University

KAREN HYMER

Karen Hymer runs the Light Art Space in Silver City,

and hosted 3 print exhibitions during the last

Southwest Print Fiesta, 

including Ambos Lados

ERIC THOMSON

Dr Bell lecturing on his historical print collection in December

in the "Politics as Usual" exhibition at Argos Studio Gallery in Santa Fe

Eric Thomson runs the Argos Studio/Gallery in Santa Fe, hosting the Santa Fe Etching Club.  At the end of every year, Eric shows a piece of the huge historical print collection of Dr Robert Bell.  This year's exhibition was of historical political prints, mirroring the current political climate -- and featuring prints by Goya, Käthe Kollwitz, Honoré Daumier, Hogarth, Nast and other printmaker heavyweights.

Argos Studio/Gallery exhibited the Ambos Lados International Print Exchange in July, 2019.  Eric Thomon framed all 158 prints, and also offered invaluable guidance and direction to the whole project.

IPE 2019

8 printmakers from Ambos Lados also participated in the 11th IPE (International Print Exchange) 2019 in Derbyshire, United Kingdom.  They are:  Beatriz Rivas, Adrian Aguirre, Manuel Guerra, Raul Monarrez, Diane Davis, Elaine Crowe, Jim Weaver, Lyn Nichols.  

Many of the Ambos Lados printmakers have participated in the IPE in previous years.

Also Manuel Guerra participated in the 3rd Annual 69 Print Exchange of Spain.

Lithography the Oaxaca way

Albuquerque Stirrings (and Cuba)

Ambos Lados printmakers are busy in Albuquerque, New Mexico (where your blogger lives).

Henry Morales set up his press at the mall, Jessica Weybright had a print opening at Remarque Print Workshop, Julianna Kirwin gave a print workshop in Mountainair, New Mexico -- and we found a Cuban printmaker visiting Santa Fe, Dairen Fernandez  (though he is not one of the Cuban printmakers in Ambos Lados).

HENRY MORALES

AT CORONADO MALL

Henry Morales set his press up at Coronado Mall, in the shop "Something Different," and does live printing there, as well as sells his woodblock prints.

Henry Morales printing at Coronado Mall in Albuquerque

Coronado Mall

in front of the Sandia Mountains in Albuquerque

Henry in front of the "Something Different" store

Henry inside the "Something Different" store

Henry's print on the left celebrates Albuquerque,

with a skull, balloons (of the Balloon Fiesta),

behind a watermelon (referring to the Sandia Mountains)

Henry Morales is also selling his prints on Etsy -- under the name "WoodcutsbyHenry"

JESSICA WEYBRIGHT

OPENING AT REMARQUE PRINT WORKSHOP

Jessica Weybright is showing at Remarque Print Workshop in Albuquerque in October.  She is one of the 4 owners of Remarque Print Workshop, which has pictures of her prints on their website.

Jessica Weybright at opening, on Friday, October 4th, 2019

Opening October 4th, 2019

JULIANNA KIRWIN

WORKSHOP IN MOUNTAINAIR

Juliana Kirwin gave a print workshop in Mountainair, New Mexico, while we were showing Ambos Lados in Silver City.

Juliana Kirwin's workshop

showing off their prints

CUBA

DAIREN FERNANDEZ

We bought a print from Dairen Fernandez of Cuba, as he was in Santa Fe for the Clandestina event (Cuba's first independent fashion label) at the International Folk Art Market. 

 We bought this print from Dairen Fernandez of Havana

Dairen Fernandez is not in Ambos Lados, but he did participate with Octavio Irving (who is in Ambos Lados), and 3 other Cubans, in the LA Havana portfolio.  The Cuban artists made their prints at Self Help Graphics in LA, and the US artists made their prints in the Taller Experimental de Grafica in Havana.  Stuart Ashman (current director of IFAM in Santa Fe) was instrumental in putting together this portfolio.

Octavio Irving of Havana (and Ambos Lados),

participated in the LA Havana portfolio

LARGE PRINT PORTFOLIOS

During the same time they were creating 

the LA Havana portfolio,

we were creating the Desert Triangle Print Carpeta,

our previous print project

CLANDESTINA

Clandetina is Cuba's first independent fashion label, and they silk screened t-shirts at the International Folk Art Market in Santa Fe, October 18 -20, 2019.

Gabriel Lara and Jonathan Ruvira

screening shirts

 John Tollett holding up his t-shirt,

freshly screened by Clandestina