Prints in the spotlight for "Tamarind Touchstones"
More than 60 works on paper by many of the most significant American artists and printers of the past half century are on exhibit through April 15 at the Newcomb Art Gallery in its spring show, “Tamarind Touchstones: Fabulous at 50, Celebrating Excellence in Fine Art Lithography.”
Among the works on display at the Newcomb Art Gallery is Double Dose of Color, 2009, by Jim Dine. The show at the Woldenberg Art Center continues through April 15. (Image from the Newcomb Art Gallery)
A reception for the exhibit will take place at the gallery on Wednesday (Feb. 29) from 6 until 8 p.m. On Thursday (March 1) at 1:30 p.m., Tamarind Institute director Marjorie Devon will lead a gallery walk-through. The events are free and open to the public.
The display showcases the broad aesthetic capabilities of lithography and demonstrates the diversity of the artists who have embraced the medium, says exhibition curator John Mulvany.
The Tamarind Lithography Studio had its beginnings in 1960 when American printmaker, painter and educator June Wayne (1918-2011) sought a means for stimulating interest in lithography, an ancient medium that had waned with abstract expressionists' emphasis on direct application of paint to canvas. Her efforts materialized with the founding of Los Angeles' Tamarind Lithography Workshop, named after the Hollywood street on which it was located.
In 1970, it was taken over by the University of New Mexico and renamed the Tamarind Institute.
At Tamarind, Joseph Albers, Jim Dine, Philip Guston, Louise Nevelson and Kiki Smith, among many others, have joined their European counterparts in the art of modern lithography.
Tamarind Institute director Marjorie Devon says, “It is difficult to say what path the artistic applications of lithography would have followed in the United States without the influence of Tamarind, but there is little doubt that its programs have had a profound effect on the world of printmaking.”
