OVERLAP | Curated by Martin Mazorra
ONLINE PRINT EXHIBITION
May 2 – May 31, 2022
Featuring Chloe Alexander, Laura Crehuet Berman, Chris Chandler, Tenjin Ikeda, Nancy Loeber, Martin Mazorra, Sarah Shebaro, Sarah Smelser, and David Wolske
This spring, Planthouse is pleased to present Overlap, an online print exhibition curated by artist Martin Mazorra, cofounder of Cannon Ball Press. The show features nine artists, including Mazorra, who incorporate print into their art-making. In creating these prints, each artist uses a unique method of overlapping color and sequential layering. With overprinting, you intentionally mix colors by printing one on top of the other to create an exciting dimension level and new color results. The results are not accidental or experimental. Instead, there is a deliberate simplicity and elegance; They are the informed applications of an artist’s cumulative knowledge and a deep understanding of the qualities of their ink and their paper. The freshness of the works is the function of limited variables in the hands of experienced printmakers, who use the integrated calculus of color, transparency, and thoughtfully composed relationships. Overlap brings together printmakers from around the country who carefully consider the craft of overprinting. Each print highlights the technique, from portraiture to typography to design.
OVERLAP ARTISTS
Chloe Alexander is a printmaker who works in various techniques to create multilayered, one-of-a-kind prints and drawings. Chloe obtained both her BFA and M. Ed. from Georgia State University in Atlanta and has since exhibited work widely, including at Kai Lin Art Gallery in Atlanta, the International Print Center New York, and the Woolwich Contemporary Print Fair in London.
@thehaplessprintmaker
Laura Crehuet Berman has exhibited in over 125 galleries and museums worldwide. Her work is represented by Cade Tompkins Projects, Long View Gallery, Olson-Larsen Gallery, Uprise Art, and Zinc Contemporary. Berman regularly publishes large-scale monoprint projects with Pele Prints, St. Louis. She received her BFA from Alfred University and her MFA from Tulane University. Laura Crehuet Berman is a Professor at Kansas City Art Institute, where she has taught printmaking and book arts since 2002. She publishes Reflections on Color and Printmaking and runs Prairieside Cottage and Outpost, a family-friendly artist retreat in the Flint Hills region of Kansas.
@bermanlaura
Neu Haus Press was founded in 1996 by Chris Chandler when he acquired his first Vandercook Press in Venice Beach, CA. His love, talent, knowledge, and collection of this vintage craft have grown through the years. From 30 years working as a tour manager and sound engineer for bands, he has had the privilege of sharing his passion for letterpress printing with musicians in collaboration with their artwork.
Chandler lives in Portland, OR with his wife and two children, where he can pursue his printing practice and create letterpress art. The Elizabeth Leach Gallery represents Chandler.
@neuhauspress
Tenjin Ikeda is an Afro-Puerto Rican Artist born in Brooklyn, New York, on October 30, 1968. He attended the School of Visual Arts in New York first focusing on graphic design and, ultimately, fine arts, where he felt more freedom to express himself. At the Arts Student League, he discovered printmaking, which has been his focus for the past 22 years working in relief. He has various works in private collections and acquisitions by The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, The Print Club of Albany, and The Art Student’s League. In addition, he has been in Modern Printmaking, a book of 30 contemporary printmakers by Sylvie Covey.
@tenjin_ikeda
Nancy Loeber is an artist living and working in Brooklyn, NY. Her work includes drawing, printmaking, textiles, and limited edition books in collaboration with poets and writers of short fiction.
@nancyloeber
Martin Mazorra (b. 1972) was born in Morgantown, West Virginia, and now lives and works in Brooklyn, NY. Mazorra received a BFA from West Virginia University in 1994 and an MFA from American University in Washington DC in 1996. He teaches at Pratt Institute and Parson’s School of Design in New York City. Mazorra was the recipient of a 2007 NYFA Fellowship in Printmaking, Drawing, and Artist Books. He was also a 2009 United States Artists Ford Foundation Fellow.
@mmazorra
Sarah Shebaro is a multidisciplinary artist and designer residing in Knoxville, TN. Letterpress, painting, screenprint, and appliqué are media she uses to create work on paper and fabric.
Her teaching and studio practice is based at Striped Light, a print studio and record label Shebaro co-founded in 2015. In addition, she taught at the Pratt Institute (NYC), Manhattan Graphics Center, Southern Oregon University, Penland School of Craft, and others.
@sshebaro
Sarah Smelser received her BA from the University of California at Santa Cruz and her MA and MFA from Iowa. She has been an artist in residence at Vermont Studio Center, Franz Masereel Center, Artica Bilbao, Kala Art Institute, Jentel Artist Residency, Skopelos Foundation for the Arts, Anchor Graphics, Ballinglen Arts Foundation, and Tamarind Institute. Her work is in such collections as Readers’ Digest Association, New York Public Library, Library of Congress, Hallmark Corporate Collection, and Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts.
Smelser is a Professor, the Associate Director of the School of Art at Illinois State University, and a cofounder of Manneken Press with her husband, Master Printer Jonathan Higgins. Manneken Press is a fine art print publishing venture currently thriving in Bloomington, IL, publishing the work of artists from around the United States and Colombia.
@sarahsmelser @mannekenpress
David Wolske is a typo/graphic designer, artist, and educator. His interdisciplinary practice combines the traditions of letterpress and printmaking with digital tools and design thinking. Wolske’s work is exhibited and collected nationally and internationally. He is a 2020 LHM Educator Fellow at the Hoffmitz Milken Center for Typography at ArtCenter College of Design; the College Book Art Association 2018 Emerging Educator; 2016 Visiting Artist at Hatch Show Print; and a 2014 Utah Visual Arts Fellow.
Artspace111 in Fort Worth represents Wolske’s work. He is currently an Assistant Professor in the College of Visual Arts and Design at the University of North Texas.
@davidwolske