10/27/16

AMES, Iowa — The Iowa State University Print Society will host “Abstracted Simplicity: 16th Annual International Postcard Print Exchange and Juried Student Exhibition” and silent auction Nov. 14-30 at the ISU College of Design.

Exhibition hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays in Gallery 181, located on the first floor of the College of Design building on the west side of the Iowa State campus. Admission is free. The exhibition will be closed Nov. 21-25 during Thanksgiving break.

The show features original prints by 233 artists from 25 U.S. states and eight other countries: Australia, Belgium, Canada, Ecuador, France, Netherlands, South Korea and United Kingdom.

“This annual project is a great way to see what others are doing with printmaking and it opens up channels of dialogue around the world,” said April Katz, professor of art and visual culture and University Print Society faculty advisor.

Printmakers were invited to send 13 original, identical 4×6 prints in response to this year’s theme, “Abstracted Simplicity.” Artists could interpret the theme in any way they wished.

Eligible methods included any editionable printmaking technique (woodcuts, litho, intaglio, relief, photography, silkscreen, digital printmaking, etc.) Prints were to be stamped and mailed separately as postcards, so they would bear the markings of travel and the postal service.

“Print club members are involved in picking a theme every year, spreading the word, organizing and shipping post cards and helping to set up the show,” said Jordan Luckow, a senior in integrated studio arts and president of the University Print Society. “You meet new people, create new things and collect people’s prints! This is something I plan on participating in for the rest of my life,” he said.

Silent Auction

Every artist who submitted prints received 12 different prints from other artists in return (hence the “exchange”). The University Print Society kept one print from each artist for its own collection. These are the prints that will be on display as a part of the exhibition and available for bid in the silent auction.

Bidding starts at $5 per print. The process ends at 5 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 30. Winners will be notified by email and arrangements will be made for them to pick up their prints the following week. Proceeds help students attend national printmaking conferences.

Juried Student Exhibition

A concurrent exhibition of College of Design student work with the same theme as the postcard print exchange and exhibition, juried by Letitia Kenemer, Workspace and fine arts coordinator for the Iowa State Memorial Union, also will be displayed in Gallery 181.

Contacts

Jordan Luckow, University Print Society president, jaluckow@iastate.edu
April Katz, University Print Society faculty advisor, (515) 294-3363, akatz@iastate.edu
Paige Adams, Design Communications, psadams@iastate.edu
Heather Sauer, Design Communications, (515) 294-9289, hsauer@iastate.edu

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