Friday, August 7, 2020

Printmaking in a Covid Summer

The whole world has been on lockdown since March or earlier, because of the Covid 19 pandemic, slowing down artists along with everyone else.  However some of our Ambos Lados printmakers are marching on through the summer, surely a lot more than I'm writing about here.


3 GATOS PRESS and
HORNED TOAD PRINTS




Tres Gatos Press in Guadalajara hosted a live printmaking demo with Horned Toad Prints in El Paso on Friday, July 24, 2020.  The action took place in both Guadalajara, Mexico and El Paso, Texas on Instagram.  


Tres Gatos Press above,
and Horned Toad Prints below,
after a silk screening demo on Instagram






The whole demo can be seen in two parts on Tres Gatos Press Instagram account:




Exactly one year prior Manuel Guerra of Horned Toad Prints met Tres Gatos Press in Guadalajara, and a couple of days later they were making prints on the streets of Tlaquepaque with a tortilla press!




Tres Gatos Press has been hosting a lot of other printmakers on live Instagram, such as this demo with the Amazing Hancock Brothers in Austin, Texas on the 4th of July!




INFAME ZINE

Tres Gatos Press also puts out INFAME ZINE from Guadalajara.  Your blogger, Karl Whitaker, is featured in the latest zine, #13.




MARCO SANCHEZ

Marco Sanchez was also making tortilla prints last summer with Tres Gatos Press and Manuel Guerra in Guadalajara.  This summer he had a residency at Zygote Press in Cleveland, Ohio, from July 8th - 22nd, 2020.




J LEIGH GARCIA






PAVEL ACEVEDO

In May 2020, Pavel Acevedo was interviewed by Self Help Graphics in Los Angeles, during the Covid lockdown (also featured was New Mexico's Nani Chacon, of the Desert Triangle Print Carpeta).



ORLANDO ALMANZA

During the Covid lockdown we heard from Orlando Almanza in Havana, Cuba.



SOUTHWEST PRINT FIESTA
Silver City, New Mexico


The Southwest Print Fiesta is also trying to reach into the printmaker future, and had contacted us.  Due to Covid, there will be no physical event like in the past, however they are hosting a print exchange (details coming August 11th), and Karen Hymer put out a call-to-printmakers, women of color, for an affiliated exhibition -- Facing Forward (September 6, submission deadline).



The Southwest Print Fiesta is also changing organizers -- to Jamie Karolich and Kyle Durrie of Power Light and Press.  Below is the first paragraph of an email I received:

Hello Print Fiesta family!

We wanted to take a moment to introduce ourselves as the new organizers of the Southwest Print Fiesta. We - Jamie Karolich and Kyle Durrie - are both printmakers and coworkers at Power and Light Press, a letterpress print shop based in Silver City, NM. While we have helped with aspects of the Print Fiesta over the past 4 years, the festival was founded and organized by the Mimbres Region Arts Council and we owe a debt of gratitude to them for getting this wonderful event off the ground. We are honored to take the event over and, even in these uncertain times we are looking forward to coming back together with you all in the future to celebrate the thing that we all share in common - a love of print!




HORNED TOAD II
PRINT EXCHANGE

Currently a previous print exchange -- the Horned Toad II Print Exchange -- is hanging in the New Mexico Cancer Center, as part of a greater exhibition, June 2 -- August 19, 2020.




We did not have an opening because of the pandemic.  A closing reception was planned on August 2nd, but that was cancelled also due to Covid 19 concerns.

Invitation for the closing reception
which did not happen


Back of the invitation for the closing reception
which did not happen


 Originally the Desert Triangle Print Carpeta was suppose to hang for this exhibition, however as the prints were in El Paso, pandemic uncertainties prevented us from transporting that collection, and thus the Horned Toad II Print Exchange was shown in its place.  Considering that the Horned Toad II prints had not yet been exhibited in Albuquerque, it all worked out for the best.



REMARQUE PRINT WORKSHOP

Jessica Weybright is one of the 4 owners of Remarque Print Workshop in Albuquerque.  They have an international exhibition up right now called -- Punching Marshmallows -- which includes Karen Hymer. The title reflects our current frustrations in the current pandemic, getting nowhere no matter how hard we punch. I know that I feel a little numb.


in the "Punching Marshmallows" exhibition
at Remarque Print Workshop


TORU SUGITA
14th Annual California Centered: Printmaking Exhibition

Toru Sugita has contributed to this year's 14th Annual California Centered: Printmaking Exhibition, which one can view in a virtual gallery online.  Last year his print was one of the 'best-in-show" prints.




UPDATES BELOW (September 5, 2020):

MARCUS ROBIASON

Marcus Robiason has gone into a manic printmaking phase down in Tucson, Arizona.



TALLER GRAFICA LIBRE
Of Oaxaca

Taller Grafica Libre of Zaachila, Oaxaca co-organized Ambos Lados, and put out a call-to-printmakers in Ecuador, Colombia and Mexico.  Taller Grafica Libre consists of Beatriz Rivas and Adrian Aguirre.  This is for the -- 1 Era Edicion MiniPrint exhibition.

Beatriz writes:
...estamos organizando en colaboración de Taller La Rueda coordinado por Karina Suntaxi de Ecuador, El taller Serie 5 De Colombia, el taller El Ajolote de la CDMX coordinado por Noé Vázquez y nosotros .
Note that Noe Vazquez also participated in Ambos Lados.


The jurors for the MiniPrint International show


SUMMER OF COVID
in ALBUQUERQUE

Your blogger lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and mostly hears about local printmaking activity in the Southwest, so obviously and unfortunately, he has neglected other Ambos Lados printmakers because he hasn't heard from them.




Perhaps this picture I took of graffiti in Juarez more than ten years ago, sums it all up:



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