Printmakers Open Forum

Recognition: The Legendary Tradition of Printmaking in Mexico

Curated by Nora Hiriart Litz

Mexico has a long history of printmaking dating back to the seminal work of Jose Guadalupe Posada (1852-1913). In 1937, a commitment to using visual arts for social change was born with the Taller de Grafica Popular (People’s Graphics Workshop), a collective of renowned and unknown artists (for example, Leopoldo Mendez, Diego Rivera, Elizabeth Catlett, John Charlot, Pablo O’Higgins). Recognition, honors this legacy with the work of established and emerging Mexican artists who build on a rich tradition of graphic art in Mexico

Demo: Per Anderson, Marble Lithography, La Ceiba Grafica
An increasing number of litho shops are being set up throughout Mexico with La Ceiba Grafica’s technological designs and solutions, created by Per Anderson. The technology is based on the use of local resources, developed step by step achieving low costs and excellent quality equaling international standards. It begins with the use of Mexican marble/ onix.

More at: www.laceibagrafica.org.

Participating artists:
Per Anderson

Rogelio Azcarraga

Carmen Bordes

Pilar Bordes

Edgar Cano

Jose Luis Cuevas

Sergio Dominguez

Demian Flores

Ivan Gardea

Manuela Generali

Gabriela Gutíerrez

Nunik Sauret

Yolanda Mora

Nuria Montiel

Paul Nevin

Alejandro Santiago

Alvaro Santiago

Martin Vinaver

"Conversations About Print" Panel Discussion

Please join us for “Conversations About Print”, a lively panel discussion and reception in celebration of printmaking and Recognition: The Legendary Tradition of Printmaking in Mexico, our current exhibit that is part of the city-wide Philagrafika 2010. This event will be led by three prominent printmakers: Sharon Heitzenroeder, who teaches printmaking at the Academy of Art University, USSC in California, and the Kala Art Institute, Patricia Cordoba, etcher and lithographer and member of the renowned La Ceiba Grafica in Mexico, and Alyse Bernstein, who teaches lithography at Samuel Fleisher Art Memorial in Philadelphia. “Conversations About Print” will be the closing event for Recognition: The Legendary Tradition of Printmaking in Mexico.

“Conversations About Print” will take place on Friday, March 26, 6:30-9:30 pm (Conversations will begin at 7:30) in the Midwives Collective & Gallery space at 1241 Carpenter St., Suite 2. We invite you to participate in this exciting event and to share our mutual appreciation and love of prints and printmaking.   

Biographies of Panel Participants

Sharon Heitzenroder has taught printmaking for the Academy of Art University, University of California Santa Cruz, and the Kala Art Institute. She is a master printer, studio manager, and printing consultant for the Kala Art Institute. Her work has been exhibited internationally in Belgium, Canada, Japan, and Mexico. She also works internationally as an artist and printmaker, having done residencies at the Frans Masereel Centrum, and Nagasawa Art Park. Sharon knows that printmaking is a potent form of expressive communication, and is happy to devote her days to its pursuit. Her current body of work encompasses large-scale color reduction woodblock printing and stone lithography.

Patricia A Cordoba is a Mexican-born printmaker who lives and works in Florence Italy and Mexico City. From 1994 to 1997, she studied at the Massachusetts College of Art in Boston, the School of the Museum of Fine Arts of Boston, and the Academia de Bellas Artes San Carlos in Mexico. In 2001, Patricia focused on printmaking at the Printshop ‘Il Bisonte’ in Florence, Italy, working there as a teacher in the Sarah Lawrence College Art Program.  She is an independent master printer and studio manager for the printmaking at La Ceiba Grafica, Mexico. Her work as an artist has been exhibited internationally: Suyama Space , Washington State. Galleria Tornabuoni, Pietrasanta, Italia. Museo Marino Marini, Florence, Italy. Galleria Kraczyna, Barga-Italy. Museo dela Estampa, Mexico.

Alyse C.  Bernstein is a Philadelphia-based visual artist and a 1994 graduate of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts with a major printmaking and minor in sculpture. Additionally, she has studied at the Tamarind Institute, Anderson Ranch, Lower East Side Print Shop, and The Arts Students League in New York. For the past 10 years, Alyse has served as a lithography instructor at the Fleisher Art Memorial.  Currently, her work focuses on lithography, wood cut, and fiber arts, all of which she has exhibited throughout the United States. She has been honored with numerous awards for her work including the Independence Foundation Fellowship, Dene M. Louchheim Faculty Fellowship for Continuing Study and the William Emlen Cresson Memorial Scholarship.

The Midwives Collective & Gallery

The Midwives Collective & Gallery is a women's collective formed for the purpose of fostering community art making, culture, and the creation of art history by maintaining a public arena for the display and practice of innovative emerging art. The audience at large is invited to share an artistic experience in an intimate, non-traditional gallery space.