Wood Engravers’ Network Third Triennial Exhibition

The Wood Engravers’ Network Third Triennial Exhibition is coming to the Museum of Printing from April 20th through June 22nd, 2019!

This is WEN’s third juried, traveling exhibit featuring sixty-four (64) engravings by thirty-seven (37) artists from New England and throughout the United States as well as Canada, Ireland and Belgium. Juried by Gray Zeitz of Larkspur Press, the exhibit will travel through the end of 2019.

New England artists include Evan Charney (Massachusetts), Leslie Evans (Massachusetts), R.P. Hale (New Hampshire), Eric Hoffman (Rhode Island), the late Anna Hogan (Massachusetts), and Abigail Rorer (Massachusetts). The work of beloved local wood engraver, Anna Hogan, is on permanent exhibit here at the Museum.

Talks and demonstrations scheduled during the Exhibition include:

• April 20th – Opening Reception 1:00-3:00 p.m., Gallery Talk & Wood Engraving Demonstration at 1:30 p.m. by Evan Charney, Free Admission
• May 18th – Wood Engraving Demonstration by Abigail Rorer
• June 1st – “Relief Printing – An Afternoon with The Boston Printmakers,” Noon to 3:00 p.m.
• June 15th – Wood Engraving Demonstration by Eric Hoffman

Wood engraving is a relief printmaking process where an original drawing is cut into the surface of an endgrain wood block and then inked and printed to create a reflected image of the cut block. The prints are considered multiple originals created in limited editions – not reproductions or digital creations – offering an affordable entry into collecting original art works. Many of the prints in the show will be available for sale, as will the show catalog.

For many, wood engravings conjure memories of a favorite children’s story – a consequence of the medium’s highly efficient and successful use as illustration during the industrialization of printing (mid-to late 19th century). While wood engraving was once considered efficient, now the process is considered very slow. Its intimate scale and minute detail charm practitioners into working 40 hours or more on one 4 inch square piece of wood. This group exhibit provides a view of the contemporary practice of wood engraving and the wide variety of styles and approaches to the medium.

Summary of all Exhibiting Artists:
Wesley Bates (Ontario, Canada), Nick Baute (Kentucky), Evan Charney (Massachusetts), Paul Constance (Virginia), Nancy Darrell (North Carolina), Tony Drehfal (Wisconsin), Colleen Dwire (California), Leslie Evans (Massachusetts), Andy Farkas (North Carolina), Rich Gere (Texas), Rebecca Gilbert (Pennsylvania) R.P. Hale (New Hampshire), Gwen Heffner (Kentucky), Jon Hinkel (Minnesota), Eric Hoffman (Rhode Island), Anna Hogan (Massachusetts), Mirka Hokkanen (Finland), Judith Jaidinger (Illinois), Cindy Koopman (Minnesota), Channing Lefebvre (New York), Susan Mannion (Ireland), Michael McGarvey (New Jersey), John McWilliams (South Carolina), Joel Moline (Minnesota), Carl Montford (Washington), David Moyer (Pennsylvania), William Myers (Minnesota), Neil Peck (Washington), Sylvia Pixley (Michigan), Joanne Price (Kentucky), Abigail Rorer (Massachusetts), Anders Sandstrom (indiana), Kerri Safranski (Indiana), Robert Simola (California), James G. Todd (Montana), Manuel Vermeire (Brussels, Belgium), Richard Wagener (California)

Juror: Gray Zeitz, Founder and Operator of Larkspur Press, a nationally acclaimed fine press publisher working for more than forty years in Monterey, Kentucky. His specialty is printing handcrafted editions of Kentucky’s authors, including such figures as Wendell Berry, Bobbie Ann Mason, James Baker Hall, Frederick Smock, Guy Davenport, and Ed McClanahan. He also calls on talented wood engravers and expert bookbinders to collaborate in his work.

The Wood Engravers’ Network formed in 1994 to foster education and create a resource for wood engravers and the practice of wood engraving. The group publishes a biannual journal, holds an annual conference, maintains a website and social media presence, as well as sponsoring exhibits, group projects and an ongoing print exchange for members

The April 20th opening reception is supported in part by grants from the Andover, Boxford, Georgetown, Groveland, Haverhill, Merrimac, West Newbury and Topsfield Cultural Councils, local agencies which are supported by the Mass Cultural Council, a state agency.