Umbra: New Prints for a Dark Age

International Print Center New York (IPCNY) is pleased to present Umbra: New Prints for a Dark Age. The exhibition is part of our New Prints Program, a platform to showcase international printmaking in the current moment. Selected by 2019/summer artist-juror Alison Saar, the exhibition features 44 artists from Canada, Germany, Greece, India, Poland, the United Arab Emirates, and the United States.

An umbra is the deepest, darkest part of a shadow. During the selection process, Saar described how she was “immediately taken by the number of prints that reflected the somber atmosphere of our times,” which made the metaphor of the umbra a unifying concept. Through technically dynamic approaches to print in sculpture, animation, books, and paper, the works respond to contemporary and often historically pervasive concerns around race, gender, labor, and land. Saar reminds us that “some works are angry, some pained and some are healing and hopeful, but all are passionate about the precarious state of our troubled times.” These artists employ methods of response and resistance that conjure the hope that this precarity is temporary. The pattern of history has often shown dark periods preceding periods of enlightenment, indicating that these artistic mediations are paving the way toward a brighter future—one that is more just, balanced, and inclusive.

To mark the milestone of this sixtieth New Prints exhibition, IPCNY will be expanding the New Prints Artist Development Program, now in its fifth cycle, by nominating two Artists-in-Residence for the first time, along with one Artist Mentorship awardee and three Sponsored Coursework awardees. The six awardees of the program will be announced at the opening reception on July 11. For additional information on Public Programs and to shop works from the exhibition, visit ipcny.org/umbra.

Artists: Topher Alexander, Ioannis Anastasiou, Miguel A. Aragón, Linda Behar, Daniel Berman, Tia Blassingame, Douglas Collins, Miguel G. Counahan, Renee Cox, Amirah Cunningham, Maria de Los Angeles, Holly Downing, Camila Escobar Vélez, Christine Garvey, Brian Gonzales, Debra Jenks, Aaron Krach, Krystle Lemonias, Eddy A. López, Inês Martins, Anna McNeary, Jessica Mehta, Judy Mensch, Stephanie Mercado, Brooke Molla, Lynsey Nelson, Shivam Pawar, Laura Post, Bozica Radjenovic, Jacoub Reyes, Seth Roby, Jose Hugo Sanchez, Zorawar Sidhu, Robynn Smith, Cassandra Stancil Gunkel, Johanna Tiedtke, Max Valentine, Sandy Walker, Elizabeth M. Webb, Carolyn Webb, Ella Weber, Mary Windley, Cameron York, and Roksana Żelazkiewicz

Presses & Publishers: EFA Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop, New York, NY; Griffelkunst-Vereinigung Hamburg e.V., Hamburg, Germany; Primrose Press, Los Angeles, CA; The W.O.R.K.S., Vallejo, CA; and Zopilote Inc. Heliográfica Nacional, Mexico City, Mexico

About the Juror
Alison Saar studied art and art history at Scripps College and received an MFA from the Otis Art Institute. She was the recipient of the 2019 Southern Graphics Council International Lifetime Achievement in Printmaking Award. Her major touring exhibition Mirror Mirror: The Prints of Alison Saar from the Collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer and His Family Foundation is on view through October 4, 2019 at Walton Arts Center, Fayetteville, AR, and will be traveling to the Weatherspoon Art Museum, University of North Carolina, Greensboro, Toledo Museum of Art, and the Ruth Chandler Williamson Gallery, Scripps College. Her work is represented in the collections of the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Baltimore Museum of Art, The Museum of Modern Art, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, among others. Saar is a former New Prints artist, featured in Edging Forward: New Prints 2018/Winter.

About the New Prints Program
IPCNY’s New Prints Program is a platform for artists from a wide range of backgrounds working in the medium of print. The biannual open call exhibitions feature prints in a variety of formats and techniques created in the preceding 12 months. Artists selected for the exhibition are eligible to apply for the New Prints Artist Development Program. This program consists of three opportunities for artists to further develop their careers and printmaking practice: a month-long Artist Residency in partnership with a local printmaking workshop; an Artist Mentorship, pairing artists with mentors who provide critical feedback, career guidance, and introductions in the field; and Sponsored Coursework, which funds workshops or classes of the artists’ choice.