11/12/19

AMES, Iowa — The Iowa State University Print Society will host “Rise,” the 19th Annual International Postcard Print Exchange Exhibition and Silent Auction, Nov. 13–21 at the ISU College of Design.

Exhibition hours are 9 a.m.–5 p.m. Monday through Friday 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. A closing reception will be from 5–6 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 21.

The show features 167 different prints by artists from 19 US states and six other countries: Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, the Netherlands and South Korea.

The project began in spring 2019 when printmakers from around the world were invited to send 13 original, identical 4”x6” prints in response to this year’s theme, “Rise.” 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.

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.

The bidding process will be described in the gallery. Bidding ends with the exhibition at 6 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 21, and winners may pay for and pick up their prints at the end of the closing reception. Those who do not pick up their prints will be notified by e-mail and arrangements will be made for them to pick up the prints after Thanksgiving break. Proceeds help fund club activities, including student attendance at the annual Southern Graphics Council Conference in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in April 2020, and a workshop and lecture by guest artist Brian Kelly, head of the printmaking program at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and coordinator of Marais Press.

Retrospective exhibition

In conjunction with “Rise,” the University Print Society will host “Wish You Were Here,” a retrospective of the entire postcard print exchange collection of the past 19 years. Postcards in this collection date to the year 2000. Several past years’ themes include “Divided or United” (2018), “On the Verge” (2017), “Abstracted Simplicity” (2016), “Heroine” (2015), “Transformation” (2014), “Temptation” (2013), “Disguise” (2012) and “Apocalypse” (2011).

Contacts

Raluca Iancu, Art and Visual Culture (Printmaking), riancu@iastate.edu
Heather Sauer, Design Communications, (515) 294-9289, hsauer@iastate.edu

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