Saturday, September 5, 2020

Albuquerque Ambos Printmakers Steamrolling out of a Covid Summer

Two Ambos Lados printmakers in Albuquerque -- Mike Kimball and Henry Morales -- tried to steamroll out of the Covid pandemic.


Steamroller printing in Albuquerque, New Mexico
(during the Zozobra broadcast)


The Albuquerque steamroller printing event kicked off the Labor Day weekend, on Friday, September 4, 2020, at the Isleta Amphitheater.  The main attraction was the annual burning of Zozobra in Santa Fe, which was projected on the big screen later that night.  Visitors watched the broadcasted burning while tailgating in the parking lot, still observing social distancing restrictions against Covid 19.  New Mexico Zozobra predated Burning Man by decades!







Henry Morales had previously contributed to the Desert Triangle Print Carpeta; and Mike Kimball is listed on the Placitas ArtistsMesa Artists, and Mission Artists websites, covering three border states.


The Dynamic Steamroller Printer duo
straight outta Ambos Lados --



The steamroller event was directed by
(Lincoln Draper taking photos, left,
is one of the 4 co-owners of Remarque)


Jessica Krichels, one of the 4 co-owners of Remarque Print Workshop,
gives an interview with KOB TV


NOTE:  Jessica Weybright of Ambos Lados is also one of the 4 co-owners of Remarque Print Workshop.  She and Mary Sundstrom (also co-owner)  stayed back at the printmaking studio to hold a virtual printmaking opening on Zoom, going on at the same time.


The true heroes, 
and Anthony Stewart (r) did all the hard work


Kent Swanson
Public Art Coordinator for Bernalillo County
organized the event


Mike Kimball stands in front 
of his steamroller print of a classic car


Mike Kimball stands in front
of his other print of the Rail Runner trains



Henry Morales stands in front of his steamroller print 
of the Sandia Mountains (right)
(the Sandia Mountains approve in the background)


Henry Morales' second print,
of corn stalk










Zooming photo tries to capture the spirit of the event


the view from the printmaking tent



Sunset in Albuquerque
on a successful Steamroller Printing event




MORE  STEAMY PHOTOS!

The first two links show more pictures of the event (including most of the pictures above).






HENRY MORALES
Carving his big Sandia Mountains print

I took pictures of Henry Morales carving out his large steamroller woodcut on September 1, 2020, just days before the big event on September 4th. 





***

P R E V I O U S
 STEAMROLLER PRINTING EVENTS


MIKE KIMBALL

This was not Mike Kimball's first steamroller printing rodeo.  He also made big steamroller prints during the Southwest Print Fiestas down in Silver City, New Mexico --  in both 2017 and 2018. He has also steamroller printed in Oklahoma City.







SOUTHWEST PRINT FIESTA
Steamroller printing in 2019

If this year's Albuquerque steamroller printing event was not inspired by the 2019 Southwest Print Fiesta in Silver City, the video footage of Sarah Parker's steamroller print below helped guide the event somewhat.





CHALK THE BLOCK 2014
El Paso

Steamroller printing has been on our radar since 2014, when Kim Bishop and Luis Valderas of San Antonio, directed a steamroller printing activity in downtown El Paso during the Chalk the Block festival.  Francisco Delgado of Ambos Lados participated in that event. 



SAN ANTONIO EXHIBITION
of Steamroller Prints in 2015

The steamroller prints made in El Paso in 2014 were exhibited in downtown San Antonio at the Texas A&M University-San Antonio Educational and Cultural Arts Center (ECAC) (formerly the ex-Museo Alameda), along with another set of prints done in San Antonio.  That's high status!




HOUSTON 2015
It Came from the Bayou

Outlaw printmaker Carlos Hernandez and crew have been steamroller printing for years in Houston, during the annual  "It Came from the Bayou" printmaking event at St Arnold Brewery.




Surreal Covid Summer
in Albuquerque

Later on that same night, September 4th, they continued the monthly Albuquerque Artwalk downtown. Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham had just lifted some of the Covid restrictions a week before, allowing restaurants to open at 25% capacity. There was a lot of activity around 9 PM downtown, people were probably just dying to get out of the house after months of hard lockdown.



During the September Albuquerque Artwalk, Malcolm King (of Ambos Lados) and company put out their first Zine from the 111 Media Arts Collective (the Infame Zine comes out of Guadalajara,
made by other Ambos printmakers)


Zine #1
by Malcolm King and company




APOLOGY:  Your blogger lives in Albuquerque, and does not always know about the progress of other Ambos Lados printmakers in the rest of the US, Mexico, and overseas.  However, he is sure that the other Ambos Lados printmakers are stirring it up around the world.

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