Printmaking is not easy. I am impressed, and very humbled, that 32 artists put themselves out to create a print for the YayBig Print Exchange in Tucson. I am sure that Manuel Guerra feels the same way about the 28 printmakers who submited works to his Horned Toad Prints Print Exchange in El Paso. Between the two exchanges, there are several master printmakers, including: Andrew Rush, who founded The Drawing Studio in Tucson, Eli Levin who founded the Santa Fe Etchers Club, Danny Martin of Tucson, Jules Floss & Brandon Sanderson from the University of N. Carolina at Pembroke, Malaquias Montoya at TANA (UC Davis), and of course Manuel Guerra of the University of Texas at El Paso. I would like to thank all the great talents that gave us their work and visions to make two strong print exchanges.
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: ZOCALO MAGAZINE’S NOV. 2014 COVER FEATURE ON THE SHOW; TAD LAMB INSPECTS FRAMES AT SARNOFF’S; FRAMED PIECES READY FOR DELIVERY
Two print exchanges can be more powerful together, when exhibited in the same space. From Tucson—El Pueblo Viejo—comes the YayBig Print Exchange, featuring printmakers all from the Southwest. From El Paso—El Chuco—the Horned Toad Prints Print Exchange showcases artists local, international, and in between. A few artists are represented in both collections. This exhibition ran at The Drawing Studio in Tucson from Sept 27 to Oct 4th (2014). Then it moved to El Paso, Oct 10 - 12th, for their 7th Annual Chalk the Block festival. While YayBig was modeled after the Horned Toad print exchange, the flavor of each has to reflect that of its city of origin. Thus, it might also be fun to face off with say a Portland-centric print exchange—The Old Pueblo vs. Portlandia; or maybe with Austin—El Chuco vs. El Ostentatious. Prints travel easily, and have the power to reach beyond their city and region of origin. Anything could happen in the sequel. GRID FROM TOP LEFT: HENRY MORALES IN HIS ALBUQUERQUE STUDIO; GONZALO ESPINOSA AT TALLER SIN MIEDO; HOWARD YOFFE AT THE DRAWING STUDIO; ANTHONY SIDDONS AT GLOO FACTORY; MANUEL GUERRA AT HORNED TOAD PRINTS JOE MARSHALL AND JEIK FICKER AT THE TUCSON COMMUNITY PRINT SHOP; TANYA RICH AT TALLER SIN MIEDO
Print exchanges are also about sharing amongst artists. Each artist contributed an edition of 15 prints to the YayBig Print Exchange, and received 13 different prints back. Two prints remained with the organizers for exhibition purposes. The Horned Toad Prints print exchange solicited an edition of 8 prints, and gave each participant back 7 different prints. All prints measured 8x10 inches.
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EL PUEBLO VIEJO VS. EL CHUCO 2014