For Immediate Release

 

Contact:         Denise McGarvey
                        Art Gallery Exhibition Director
                        Galloway, N.J. 08205
                        Denise.McGarvey@stockton.edu
                        (609) 652-4566
                        stockton.edu/artgallery

Galloway, N.J. - The Stockton University Art Gallery, located in L-Wing on the Galloway campus, will display “Wood Engravers’ Network [WEN] Triennial Exhibition” from June 28-Aug. 8. A lecture and reception will be held on Friday, June 30 at 3:30 p.m.

The juried, traveling exhibit features 64 engravings by 37 artists from the United States, Canada, Ireland and Belgium as well as prints by the late artist Stephan Martin, who resided in Roosevelt, N.J., which were produced in collaboration with the late Ben Shahn.

Gaylord Schanilec, an artist, writer, letterpress printer, designer and illustrator, will appear as the guest lecturer followed by the reception to meet the exhibiting artists. Many of the artists will present additional work during an informal show-and-tell. Prints will be available for purchase.

Exhibiting artists include: Wesley Bates (Ontario, Canada), Nick Baute (Kentucky), Evan Charney (Massachusetts), Paul Constance (Virginia), Nancy Darrell (North Carolina), Tony Drehfal (Wisconsin), Colleen Dwire (California), Leslie Evans (Massachusetts), Andy Farkas (North Carolina), Rich Gere (Texas), Rebecca Gilbert (Pennsylvania) R.P. Hale (New Hampshire), Gwen Heffner (Kentucky), Jon Hinkel (Minnesota), Eric Hoffman (Rhode Island), Anna Hogan (Massachusetts), Mirka Hokkanen (Finland), Judith Jaidinger (Illinois), Cindy Koopman (Minnesota), Channing Lefebvre (New York), Susan Mannion (Ireland), Michael McGarvey (New Jersey), John McWilliams (South Carolina), Joel Moline (Minnesota), Carl Montford (Washington), David Moyer (Pennsylvania), William Myers (Minnesota), Neil Peck (Washington), Sylvia Pixley (Michigan), Joanne Price (Kentucky), Abigail Rorer (Massachusetts), Anders Sandstrom (indiana), Kerri Safranski (Indiana), Robert Simola (California), James G. Todd (Montana), Manuel Vermeire (Brussels, Belgium) and Richard Wagener (California). 

The contemporary wood engravings will be juried by Gray Zeitz, founder and operator of Larkspur Press, a letter press printing shop where movable type is set by hand. Zeitz is a nationally acclaimed publisher working for more than 40 years in Monterey, Ky. His specialty is printing handcrafted editions of Kentucky’s authors, including such figures as Wendell Berry, Bobbie Ann Mason, James Baker Hall, Frederick Smock, Guy Davenport, and Ed McClanahan. He also calls on talented wood engravers and expert bookbinders to collaborate in his work.

Wood engraving is a relief printmaking process where an original drawing is cut into the surface of an end grain wood block and then inked and printed to create a reflected image of the cut block. The prints are considered multiple originals created in limited editions - not reproductions or digital creations - offering an affordable entry into collecting original artworks.

For many, wood engravings conjure memories of a favorite children’s story - a consequence of the medium’s highly efficient and successful use as illustration during the industrialization of printing from the mid-to late 19th century. While wood engraving was once considered efficient, the process is now considered very slow. Its intimate scale and minute detail charm practitioners into working 40 hours or more on one 4-inch square piece of wood. This group exhibit provides a view of the contemporary practice of wood engraving and the wide variety of styles and approaches to the medium.

The Wood Engravers’ Network [WEN] was formed in 1994 to foster education and create a resource for wood engravers and the practice of wood engraving. The group publishes a biannual journal, holds an annual conference, maintains a website and a social media presence, as well as sponsors exhibits, group projects and an ongoing print exchange for members.

Listings:

Wood Engravers' Network Triennial Exhibition
June 28 – Aug. 8
Lecture & Reception & Print Show-and-Tell
Friday, June 30, 3:30 - 6:30 p.m.
Free and Open to the Public
Summer Hours: 12 - 4 p.m.
Monday – Thursday, and Saturday