Southern Graphics Conference 2007

Philly was represented proudly at the 2007 Southern Graphics Council Conference graciously hosted by Virginia Commonwealth University at the end of March. Philagrafika 2010 Curatorial Team members José Roca and Shelley Langdale presented in panel discussions, as well as Daniel Heyman who presented a fabulous panel about art in a time of war. It was exciting to see Shelley and José introduce some of the ideas for 2010 as content.

Shelley Bancroft and Peter Nesbitt of Art on Paper and Triple Candie gallery were the conference keynote speakers and delivered a wonderful summary of what trends develop around prints and in works on paper - including the trend for print shops to either create huge editions or very small but large scale editions to cater to the current markets. (image of Shelley and Peter's presentation above)

Daniel Heyman presented with Sandow Birk and Paul Mullowney on The Printmaker in Wartime: The Influence of Callot and Goya on 21st Century Art. This panel focused on Heyman's current project of documentation of interviews with detainees from Abu Ghraib prison and Birk's series Depravities of War
created with Paul at Hui Press in Hawaii. (photo: Daniel, Paul, Cindi Ettinger and Sandow Birk)

Shelley Langdale of the Philadelphia Museum of Art presented on the conference thematic panel, Command Print. Each presenter took a different tack, tying themes they saw develop during presentations throughout the week. Fellow Command Print panelists included artist and critic Johanna Drucker; artist and educator Steve Murakishi; and artist and critic Mark Harris. Each panelist looked at the state of the field of print from a different angle - Johanna from a theoretical; Mark from a science fictional future looking back; Steve from a pop culture angle and Shelley from a curatorial perspective.

The Bits and Atoms panel organized by Deb Cornell featured José Roca - who took a different tack on the digital by talking about the opportunities the internet offers artists for dissemination of ideas - exemplified through artists projects such as Superflex. He also spoke of the latent print - the possibility for print that the digital practice offers.

Philadelphia will be hosting the 2010 Southern Graphics Council Conference. If you would like to find out more about this exciting opportunity, feel free to email me cperkins at philagrafika.org.

And, it wasn't all theory and talk, as you can see by the images below - there were plenty of dirty hardworking printmakers showing their stuff all over Richmond. Including this fantastic new woodcut by Dennis McNett of a Snow Leopard attack - and these amazing printed bedsheets by the Hancock Brothers.