On view at Pace Prints, 536 West 22nd Street, is Summer Selections, a group exhibition that showcases the versatility and innovation of printmaking as artists push the boundaries of the medium.
Santi Moix’s On som ara? is a series of unique monotypes that feature an explosion of biomorphic forms. Creating colorful compositions that resemble mandalas and foliage, Moix marries his two signature styles in monotype, which was chosen for its immediacy and directness. Several pieces include the addition of hand drawn collage elements. In his works, the gestural and abstract mingles with the figurative and botanical to produce a world that is Moix’s own.
Nigel Cooke’s Terrace With Bathers 3 also embraces the immediacy of the monoprint process. For these works, the artist painted directly onto a metal plate that is then run through the high-pressure etching press. Unlike traditional painting, this technique of printing reverses all imagery, leaving the artist with less control and exact mark-making. Cooke’s reliance on his own intuition results in surprises which both expose unintentional visions and reinforces the beauty in process.
Blair Saxon Hill’s Companion is an example of the artist’s focus in fabrics and figurative assemblages. “I'm a material-driven artist,” says Saxon-Hill. “I select material first and then create work from that material.” Utilizing a technique called pressure printing, Saxon-Hill creates a myriad of connecting textures and patterns employing a similar patchwork sensibility to that of the artist’s fabric and found object collage works.
Taking inspiration from ancient texts, literature, and classical mythology merged with contemporary forms, Elliott Hundley creates operatic and kaleidoscopic works of art. Elliot Hundley’s Self Portrait as Papa Smurf series are meticulously organized to be viewed upon close inspection and at a distance as dynamic abstractions of form and color. Hundley utilizes printmaking in a way that is generative instead of just a means of production by encouraging the process to be seen in the results.
Julian Schnabel’s Billy’s Portrait of God was created using multiple print techniques. Converting photographs with photolithography and then layering etching, woodcut and screen print processes, the artist creates the same boisterous, image and text-filled plane as his works on canvas.
Also included in this exhibition are works by Jonas Wood, Sayre Gomez, Robert Mangold, and Kara Walker.