Art Conservation Students Visit WNYBAC

On Monday, October 24th, first year graduate students from Buffalo State's Art Conservation Program visited WNYBAC to get an introduction to letterpress printing. They printed a quote handset in metal and wood type onto paper they had made by hand. The students chose to print a quote by Caroline K. Keck (the founder of the Art Conservation program at Buffalo State) that is relevant to their program: "They will know how to use their hands, and not just talk about what should be done, damn it." It was taken from correspondence between Georgia O'Keeffe and Keck, circa 1970.

WNYBAC will be forging a stronger relationship with the ArtCon department in the coming years, because an integral part of conservation is re-construction, and the key to accurate re-construction is knowing how an object was constructed. By bringing students in and teaching them how to print, they garner a clearer understanding of how many of the books and documents they are charged with preserving were originally made.

Thanks to Professor Judith Walsh for her help in organizing this outing, and thanks to all the students for making it fun and engaging.

WNYBAC and Buffalo Public Schools

WNYBAC has been participating in a brand new afterschool program conceived by the Buffalo Public Schools Art Education Department called "heARTS". The students come voluntarily from all across Buffalo and meet at the School of Visual and Performing Arts. WNYBAC is part of the pilot program which also includes dance and playwriting. Our curriculum focuses on papermaking, bookmaking, and printmaking. WNYBAC’s Chris Fritton has been making bi-weekly trips to the School of Visual and Performing Arts bringing materials, insight, and new art concepts to the students involved in this program.

Printmaking:

Paper Making:

Buffalo Architecture Prints at WNYBAC

Buffalo, NY is home to some of the greatest American architecture of the late 19th and early 20th century. There are constant reminders of this fact, especially in downtown, and here at WNYBAC we are surrounded on all sides by the remnants of our city's great and impressive past.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation conference is being held this week in Buffalo, celebrating all of the extraordinary architecture that the city has to offer and expressing the need to preserve important landmarks. Coincidentally, over the past year Chris Fritton and Rich Kegler from WNYBAC have been working hard creating beautiful prints reflecting our city's most impressive architectural successes. These 2-dimensional homages to local landmarks reflect not only Buffalo's attention to preserving its buildings, but also its intention to preserve its printing legacy as well.

WNYBAC uses vintage metal and wood type, printers' ornaments, and decorative cuts to create these prints. Each print is 3 or more colors and measures 11" x 17". Occasionally the backs of printing blocks are used to achieve textures and unexpected results from found materials. The pieces are arranged in a press to illustrate a stylized version of each building with proportions and sympathetic colors. Each print is hand-printed on a variety of papers (some etching papers, some fine cover stock papers) in a limited edition from a unique series of forms. Each print is signed and numbered. They are priced at $40.00 each. Special limited editions are available in our shop at WNYBAC, and as always, online at our Etsy shop.

Prints in this series include: Buffalo City Hall, Grain Elevators, Kleinhans Music Hall, Frank Lloyd Wright's Martin House, Louis Sullivan's Guaranty Building, The Avant Building, and the NY Central Train Terminal.

Books and Ritual: Works by Hyeyoung Shin

The (FREE!) opening reception for

Books and Ritual: Works by Hyeyoung Shin

is this Friday, October 14th from 6-9pm at WNYBAC!

Refreshments, a cash bar,

and a good time will be provided

This show will feature works by Korean printmaker, book artist, and installation artist Hyeyoung Shin. The exhibit will consist of recent works including artist's books, paper sculpture, drawings, and prints. Shin aims to create a structural and ambiguous space through which viewers are invited to recall and create memories within the space of her art. Shin works with the medium of books and paper due to their ability to hold and share experiences and memories, with the ultimate goal of creating a human relationship between the artist and the viewer. The themes of bottles and fish are recurring throughout her work; the bottle, according to Shin, represents the body, and the fish act as a metaphor for the chaotic yet graceful way in which emotions and memories shift and change.

The works featured in this exhibit will showcase Shin's careful attention to detail and process, as well as the wide range and great depth of her work as a book artist and printmaker.

This show will be on view from October 14th through December 10, 2011

Gallery hours are Wednesday through Saturday 12-6pm