The Zim

For my exhibit of choice I went to the Zim Museum on the Rutgers campus which has "BLOCKS OF COLOR, American Woodcuts from the 1890's to the Present" exhibit going on. I've taken several printmaking classes before, and I enjoy the processes and decisions used when making woodcuts, and prints. It can be a tedious process but there are many options, and so many colors, and overlaying, positives and negatives, I was interested in seeing this show. I first walked in, showed my ID, etc, got down the stairs, and wasn't too impressed. In the second room however, I immediately was drawn to the 3 colorful prints by Karen KUNC. Shes an American born artist, and she describes her prints as "nature based abstraction." The colors, and over lapping of her prints creates a 'reductive process which allows her composition to evolve over the course of its printing, as well as creating depth through the intricate layering of color.' The bright yellows, reds, green, purples, and blues, together create an atmosphere of tranquility and happiness, you get a positive vibe from these prints, and I really enjoyed the choices of color she used.
However, after seeing the OGV series prints by Dan Walsh, I was even more intrigued. I felt his work related to my own, more so than Karen's. I am very into horizontal and vertical motion in my own art work, maybe not as defined and linear as a print could make it, but more organic and abstract, more flowing. Walsh's OGV, Orange, Green, and Violet prints were amazing, his minimalist style and horizontal stripes fused with vivid contrasting colors was extraordinary and eye catching. He used soft layers of alternating color rather than hard-edged outlines, that cause a slight pulsing effect that enlivens each image. Somewhat similar to the "vibration" created by Seurat's pointillist approach to painting.
Last but not least, I found the Donald Judd prints more towards the back, similar with the horizontal and verticals that Walsh created in his prints, Judd's work captured my full attention. I don't know if it was the solid cadmium red he used, against the white paper, but the simplicity behind those prints was wonderful. He shows his exploration between 'geometric form, scale, space, and the rhythm of repeated shapes and voids in boxlike sculptures, as well as in series of prints. The vertical/horizontal bands of the red are interrupted by the same number of horizontal/vertical lines. The parallel white lines are unprinted, exposed white paper underneath, which alternate with (or appear to penetrate) the solid color. These prints visualize the concepts of partition and inversion a central idea in his later works.'
I was particularly excited to see that, a painting I am currently working on, looks much like the "Untitled" 1994 series of four prints by Judd, just red paint, on a white background, and having the untouched white exposed and showing through. My own painting has the paint scrapped away, to see the white canvas underneath. I definitely think that the work I saw today, relates to my own style, and what i am currently exploring with painting.