The Art of LetterPress
(February 11th-March 25th, 2012)
Opening Reception: Saturday, February 11th, 6-9pm
Closing Tea: Sunday, March 25th, 3-6pm
Featuring work by: Lisa Berman, Matt Chase, Tim Fite, Rachel Foster, Vanessa Huang, Jemmy Joe, Claire Kessler-Bradner, Bryan Kring, Mary Laird, Studio Lorzig, Amos Paul Kennedy Jr., Rebecca Peters, Lisa Rappoport, Two Fine Chaps, and more.
Co-curated with Rebecca Peters
The Compound Gallery in Oakland, CA is pleased to present The Art of Letterpress, an exhibition celebrating the bygone era of letterpress printing. A visual panegyric in honor of this distinctive form of artistry, The Art of Letterpress features some of the finest letterpress artists in the Bay Area and beyond. Today, we text, email, and print at the touch of a button, making it easy to forget how labor intensive it was to simply make a sentence and reproduce it multiple times. In an increasing digital age, people long for something that is tangible and tactile—analog. The characteristic texture, ink, and surface of letterpressed text declares it an antiquated champion of typography.
Typography was once used to express both language and visual imagery, and the process involved in producing prints involved both craft and artistry. This exhibition features the work of artists who work in letterpress using both traditional type setting and modern polymer and magnesium plates, and was co-curated with exceptional Bay Area letterpress artist, Rebecca Peters. Although the Bay Area is home to a lively, active scene, which promotes the revival of letterpress printing, letterpress printing is often overlooked as a form of fine art.
Renowned letterpress artist Amos Paul Kennedy Jr. lives and works in Alabama and is known for his bold, boundry pushing prints. Kennedy has been commissioned by CB2 to create a series of limited edition letterpress prints for Gay Pride Month, and he is the feature of a recent documentary titled Proceed and Be Bold! (Screening at The Compound on March 22nd at 9pm) Lisa Rappoport is a Bay Area artist who publishes poetry broadsides and artists’ books and has produced a series of broadsides by the poets who teach at the Squaw Valley Community of Writers; she has also printed poetry broadsides for Lawrence Ferlinghetti and City Lights Books, Lyric Poetry Review, and many others. Tim Fite is a Brooklyn artist best known for his original music. Esquire Magazine called him, “one of rock ‘n’ roll’s most subversive renaissance men,” but he is also an amazing visual artist. His letterpress printed linocuts are playful, telling images of love and strife. In addition to a display of various letterpress prints, bins of small prints, books, and broadsides, this exhibition will feature timeworn letterpress paraphernalia, ephemera, equipment, and more.
