Printin’
February 15–May 14, 2012
MoMA, The Paul J. Sachs Prints and Illustrated Books Galleries, second floor
website
Organized in conjunction with the exhibition Print/Out, Printin’ takes as its starting point DeLuxe (2005), a tour de force portfolio of 60 works by Ellen Gallagher (American, b. 1965) that challenged traditional ideas of what a print could be. This technically complex work employs a veritable riot of mediums, unorthodox tools, and elements, from slicks of greasy pomade to plastic ice cubes. DeLuxe also offers a multivalent constellation of ideas, touching on such issues as portraiture, identity, history, advertising, commodity, and the disruption, translation, and recasting of space. Proposing a kind of technical dissection and conceptual unpacking of this portfolio, Printin’ brings together work by more than 50 artists from multiple disciplines in a sweeping chronology that extends from the 17th century to the present day, to propose a free-flowing yet incisive web of associations that are reflected in DeLuxe. Encompassing prints, drawings, films, books, photographs, sculptures, videos, and comic strips, the exhibition features such artists as Vija Celmins, David Hammons, George Herriman, Robert Rauschenberg, Martha Rosler, and many others, forming a dense network of formal, technical, and conceptual connections and intersections.
Print/Out
February 19–May 14, 2012
MoMA, Sixth floor
website
Over the last two decades, the art world has broadened its geographic reach and opened itself to new continents, allowing for a significant cross-pollination of post-conceptual strategies and vernacular modes. Printed materials, in both innovative and traditional forms, have played a key role in this exchange of ideas and sources. This exhibition examines the evolution of artistic practices related to the print medium, from the resurgence of ancient printmaking techniques—often used alongside digital technologies—to the worldwide proliferation of self-published artists’ books and ephemera. Bringing together over 200 works drawn substantially from MoMA’s extensive collection of prints and books, with the addition of several important loans, the exhibition features major artists and publishing projects, such as Ai Weiwei, Ellen Gallagher, Martin Kippenberger, Lucy McKenzie, Museum in Progress, Editions Jacob Samuel, Thomas Schütte, SUPERFLEX, and Rirkrit Tiravanija, among many others.
Print/Out is the third in a series of large print surveys periodically organized by the Department of Prints and Illustrated Books in order to assess the evolution of the medium. The last two exhibitions were Printed Art: A View of Two Decades, organized by Riva Castleman in 1980, and Thinking Print: Books to Billboards: 1980–1995, curated by Deborah Wye in 1996.
Related educational programming is offered at Print Studio.