‘Spectacular’ RIT gallery features Echoes of the Past
Starting in the 1930s, the Print Club of Rochester began a tradition of annually commissioning a major national or international printmaker to create an original print edition for the membership.
To commemorate its 85th anniversary, the club wished to highlight its long history and impressive print collection along with the talents of its membership. It challenged members to select their favorite archival print as an inspiration for a new contemporary work of their own.
The club received more than 40 entries, juried by award-winning North Carolina printmaker Ellen Heck, who winnowed them down to 15 entries. The resulting works are showcased at “Echoes of the Past,” an exhibit at Rochester Institute of Technology’s University Gallery June 6 through Aug. 12.
The artists’ archival print selections are on display, alongside their contemporary interpretations, featuring everything from traditional printing techniques to more contemporary digital effects.
“Everyone took their own approach, some directly responding to their chosen archival works and others becoming really abstract,” says Adam Werth, club president.
Werth himself was inspired by the smallest wood engraving in the archives, “The Cur-Dog,” 1.12" x 2.5" published in 1790 by British engraver and naturalist Thomas Bewick in his first edition of A General History of Quadrupeds.
The tiny print features an alert canine set against a pastoral backdrop. Procured by the Print Club of Rochester in 1959, Werth says that he was moved by the fact that this print still has the ability to touch and inspire current generations.
His companion piece, “Quadrupeds,” a computer-generated abstract of overlapping, pastel-colored rectangles is composed of miniature replicas of Bewick’s dog and reflects themes of singularity and interconnectedness.
“In using the technology of computers and complicated software, we are able to look at things in new and different ways that would have never been dreamed of over 200 years ago” he says.
Printmaker Alan Singer, an RIT faculty member, chose to jump off of Rockwell Kent’s 1946 “Adirondack Cabin,” a black-and-white lithograph featuring a lone female figure standing on a mountainous road before a log cabin.
Singer’s version, “After Rockwell Kent,” is a transfer monoprint, using digital and watercolor transfers. It repeats the isolated country road theme, but with modern, tilted angles and splashes of vibrant blues, pinks and purples.
University Gallery director Wendy Marks says the gallery, which opened five years ago, aims to attract visitors from outside the university walls.
“The University Gallery is spectacular,” says Marks, “a big, soaring space and we want to produce shows that are interesting to the outside community and not just to RIT. This is a big anniversary year for the Print Club of Rochester and it makes a nice collaboration.”
Coming up
The University Gallery mounts five art exhibits a year.
On Aug. 22, the gallery is planning a show of Wendell Castle’s sculptures including a look at his creative process.
A large retrospective of RIT alum Nancy Jur’s work is being planned for next summer.
Susan Trien is a freelance writer in the Rochester area.
If You Go
What: “Echoes of the Past,” an 85th anniversary juried exhibit by the Print Club of Rochester.
Where: University Gallery, James E. Booth Hall, Rochester Institute of Technology, 166 Lomb Memorial Dr.
When: June 6-Aug. 12. Opening reception Friday, June 10, 5-7:30 p.m. Hours: Monday–Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
More: Free admission. Visit www.rit.edu/fa/gallery/ or email info@printclubofrochester.org.