2010 (Spring) Shouts From the Wall

about leeway

Support for individual artists is at the core of Leeway’s mission. The Foundation serves as an important resource for women and transgender artists who often struggle to find funding for their work and it hopes to grow the way its resources can support social change through supporting art and culture.

Our grant programs, the Art and Change Grant and the Leeway Transformation Award, are open to women and transgender artists living in the Philadelphia region working in any medim of art, including traditional and non-traditional as well as multimedia and experimental forms. Creating change must be integral to the ideas, beliefs, and goals that are woven throughout the work and the process of creating and sharing the work.

gallery location

The Philadelphia Building 1315 Walnut Street Suite 832 Philadelphia, PA 19107 p 215-545-4078 f 215-545-4021 e info@leeway.org

For more information please visit our website, leeway.org or call (215) 545-4078.

top image:

Instructor Beth Pulcinella and participants in Reclaim Print Workshop photographed by Mariel Waloff

cover image:

Rodriguez

“Make Out Not War” by Favianna

left:

“Mother’s Milk” by Melanie Cervantes.

This is clearly the year of the print in Philadelphia.

The highly anticipated biennial Philagrafika 2010, an international festival celebrating print in contemporary art has resulted in 300+ artists showing in over eighty venues throughout the city; and during the last weekend in March, ‘Mark/ Remarque’, this year’s Southern Graphics Conference will bring artists, curators, writers and others interested in the art of printmaking, to Philadelphia to join in the celebration. Given Leeway’s mission, it seemed a perfect time to create an exhibit that pays homage to the importance of political prints and printmaking mediums to social justice movements.

Shouts from the Wall, a group exhibition of prints, posters, and apparel covers issues of current local, national and global interest in works created by members of Taller Tupac Amaru, an Oakland-based artist collective dedicated to the production and public distribution of political posters; members of the West Philadelphia collective, RECLAIM: Silk Screen Production and Community Workshop; and Philadelphia-based artist bex* founder of Pleasure&Danger. Bold graphics, direct messages, and brilliant technique… the work is both timely and relevant, building upon the rich and distinguished tradition of art as social activism. [continued on next page]

about the exhibit

“… Through our images we are the creators of culture and it is our responsibility that our images are of our times - and that they be depicted honestly and promote an attitude towards existing reality; a confrontational attitude, one of change rather than adaptability - images of our time and for our contemporaries. We must not fall into the age-old cliché that the artist is always ahead of his/her time.

No, it is most urgent that we be on time.” --Malaquias Montoya

about the exhibit

[continued from previous page]

All of the artists are close to Leeway – Tupac Amaru co-founders Favianna Rodriguez and Jesus Barraza, who in their role as principals of Oakland-based design firm Tumis, have been part of our design team for five years; Beth Pulcinella, a co-founder of RECLAIM, is a recipient of a 2008 Art and Change Grant and a 2009 Leeway Transformation Award; and multidisciplinary artist bex*, a recipient of a 2009 Leeway Transformation Award, who creates prints as part of the queer/ leftist Searing Images Collective [sic] as well as art and custom apparel for the underserved trans/queer community under the name Pleasure&Danger – and all represent something at the core of our mission – artist and cultural workers using their practice to amplify what’s often unseen or unsaid.

Working to foster a resurgence in the use of printmaking mediums as a tool for social change, these artists are working collaboratively and sharing information, teaching techniques to community activists including youth, elders, allies, organizers; and creating work for [and with] community-based grassroots organizations around the country. As the brilliant activist printmaker and teacher Malaquias Montoya’s quote reminds us, it is important that artists, particularly those working for social change be on time, which I take to mean immersed in the serious issues affecting our communities right now. Their work is always topical, addressing themes of education, the criminal justice system, the impact of globalization on indigenous communities, gender identity and expression, urban greening, and third world unity; and have been distributed at gatherings such as the Free Press Conference, World Social Forum, National Political Hip Hop Convention, Allied Media Conference, and in actions for Casino Free Philadelphia, Iraq Veterans Against the War, and Code Pink. The work shows us they know what time it is.

The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “When evil men plot, good men must plan. When evil men burn and bomb, good men must build and bind. When evil men shout ugly words of hatred, good men [and women] must commit themselves to the glories of love.”

When I look at the work in this exhibit, I believe I can hear these artists shouting back the glories of love from our walls and hope you will too.

--Denise M. Brown, March 2010

“Screen-printing workshops are a powerful resource for generating political propaganda, developing sustainable business and supporting cultural production.”

left to right:

“The People’s Caravan” and “In The Red” by Beth Pulcinella.

Beth is committed to using her creative energy and multifaceted skills to move resources to building community arts infrastructure. She has facilitated workshops and classes in partnership with the Attic Youth Center, Spiral Q Puppet Theater, Fleisher Art Memorial, Southwest Community Enrichment Center, and The Philadelphia Museum of Art. Through organizing a network of youth-run print shops and cultivating safe spaces for youth and adults, she challenges the community to explore and express their creative potential. Beth has invested much of her creative resources to unpacking what she believes is an oppressive educational model that is a cornerstone of our society. She is a co-founder of RECLAIM: Silk Screen Production and Community Workshop. Believing that through networks and collective action people can create the most impact; she doesn’t cease to pull together art, youth and social change. Beth is currently a member of Prints Link Philadelphia, a coalition of artists and teachers who will present a youth forum in 2010 in conjunction with Philagrafika’s International Print Biennial.

the artists

Beth Pulcinella (LTA ‘09, ACG ‘08)

the artists

bex* (LTA ‘09) bex* is a multi-disciplinary artist living in North Philadelphia. In 2005, bex* helped bring together a group of artists to form the queer/leftist Searing “I like the idea that Images Collective [sic] responsible for numerous lothese designs, while cal artist-driven social change campaigns. Some of bex*’s other projects include curating and reproducprinted/painted with trans bodies in ing digital illustrations using spray paint stencils, patches, and clothing prints. A few of bex*’s mind, can be worn stickers, past projects include Nicetown, a short documenby anyone… The ad- tary about the neighborhood of the same name; and ventures a shirt, hat, Meditation on Intelligibility, an experimental short or patch might take exploring the relationship of the body to concepts of are a part of the life gender. bex* also creates art and custom clothing designs for the underserved trans/queer community of my work.” under the name Pleasure&Danger, vending at local and national events. bex* is interested in the viral nature of certain mediums, such as stickers, and how ‘street’ methods of distribution can be part of the art—specifically work that is related to social justice action. bex* feels drawn to capture stories of people who are marginalized and/or often misrepresented.

left to right:

“Human Body” and “The Vitruvian Transman” by bex*.

“My work is often transformed into a tool with which to organize and inform, images of change rather than adaptability, images that become owned by the people.”

left to right:

“El Maíz Es Nuestro” and “Rise Up” by Favianna Rodriguez.

Favianna Rodriguez is an artist-entrepreneur who has helped foster resurgence in political arts both locally and internationally. Named by Utne Magazine as a “leading visionary artist and changemaker,” Rodriguez is renown for her cultural media projects dealing with social issues such as war, immigration, and globalization, as well as for her leadership in establishing innovative institutions that promote and engage new audiences in the arts. In 2001, Rodriguez co-founded the EastSide Arts Cultural Center in Oakland, California. In 2003, she helped established the Taller Tupac Amaru print studio to promote the historical practice of socially-engaged printmaking. Additionally, Rodriguez is co-founder and president of Tumis Inc., a bilingual design studio that serves nonprofits all over the United States. As president of Tumis, Rodriguez travels extensively to consult with organizations interested in using visual communications and new technologies to promote community building and social change. In 2009, she co-founded Presente.org, a U.S.-based, nationwide organization dedicated to the political empowerment of Latinos via the internet and mobile messaging.

the artists

Favianna Rodriguez

the artists

Jesus Barraza Jesus Barraza is an activist printmaker based in San Leandro, California. Using bold colors and high contrast images, his prints reflect both his local and “I believe screenglobal community and their resistance in a struggle printing is an art for to create a new world. Barraza has worked closely with numerous community organizations to crethe people, as evidenced by its use in ate prints that visualize struggles for immigration housing, education, and international solidarsocial and political rights, ity. Printmaking has allowed Barraza to produce relmovements through- evant images that can be put back into the hands of out the last 100 years his community and spread throughout the world. He to educate and orga- has exhibited at Galeria de la Raza (San Francisco), Museo del Barrio (New York); de Young Museum (San nize the masses.”

Francisco); Mexican Fine Arts Center (Chicago); Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (San Francisco); and internationally at the House of Love & Dissent (Rome), Parco Museum (Tokyo), and in Mexico. He was a 2005 artist-in-residence with Juan R. Fuentes at San Francisco’s prestigious de Young Museum, and is a recipient of the “Art is a Hammer” award in 2005 from the Center for the Study of Political Graphics.

left to right:

“Las Flores” and “Lolita (Lebron)” by Jesus Barraza.

“I choose to create art as an emancipatory exercise which allows me to declare that a peaceful, sustainable and just world is possible.”

left to right:

“Mother’s Milk” and “Las Brown Berets” by Melanie Cervantes.

Melanie Cervantes is a Xicana activist-artist whose role is to translate the hopes and dreams of justice movements into images that agitate and inspire. Melanie’s work includes black and white illustrations, paintings, installations and paper stencils, but she is best known for her prolific production of political screen prints and posters. Employing vibrant colors and hand-drawn illustrations, her work moves those viewed as marginal to the center -- featuring powerful youth, elders, women, queer, and indigenous peoples. Melanie received a BA in Ethnic Studies from UC Berkeley in 2004. Melanie has exhibited at Galería de la Raza (San Francisco); Woman Made Gallery and National Museum of Mexican Art (Chicago); Mexic-Arte and Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center (Austin, TX); and Crewest (Los Angeles). Internationally her art has reached Mexico, Slovenia, Palestine, Venezuela, Switzerland and Guatemala. Her work is in public collections of the Center for the Study of Political Graphics, the Latin American Collection of the Green Library at Stanford, and the Hispanic Research Center at the Arizona State University as well as various private collections throughout the U.S.

the artists

Melanie Cervantes

more information

RECLAIM RECLAIM is a silk screen production and community workshop based in the Cedar Park neighborhood of West Philadelphia. They are not just another t-shirt business. RECLAIM passes along its knowledge to help neighbors make their own money and the shop partners with various social justice movements throughout the greater Philadelphia region. Beth Pulcinella and Quan Blanche, both printmakers who shared a passion for silk screening and a commitment to social justice work, founded RECLAIM, which is their collective dream. They believe that a small production print shop can also serve as a community resource. At RECLAIM, they: print and design multi-colored t-shirts, posters, and more; offer weekly open studio hours; offer free silk screen classes; and print materials in solidarity with social justice work.

For more info visit the workshop at 4820 Baltimore Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19143 or contact: reclaimprint@gmail.com TALLER TUPAC AMARU The Taller Tupac Amaru was founded in 2003 by Chicano artists, Favianna Rodriguez and Jesus Barraza. The mission of the Taller Tupac Amaru is to produce and distribute screenprinted political posters and to foster resurgence in the screenprinting medium. The two founders were trained by printmaking masters in California, including Jose Alpuche from Self Help Graphics (Los Angeles) and Juan Fuentes from the Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts (San Francisco). In 1998, Favianna was an intern for Center for the Study of Political Graphics (CSPG), where she was inspired to become a political poster artist. While working at Mission Grรกfica from 2001-2002 Jesus was mentored by Juan R. Fuentes, Calixto Robles and Michael Roman who taught him about the many applications of screen printing.

In fall of 2004, the Taller collaborated with political artists Malaquias Montoya, Emory Douglas, and Barbara Carrasco to produce a portfolio for CSPG. In April of 2005, the Taller traveled to Mexico City to teach a political poster workshop with young Mexican artists. There they co-established a Mexico-based affiliate, the Taller Xolotl.

For more info visit www.tallertupacamaru.com

Saturday March 27 5:30pm to 7:00pm Jesus Barraza & Favianna Rodriguez

Friday May 14 6:00pm to 7:30pm Beth Pulcinella & bex*

Workshop Friday March 26 5:00pm-8:00pm

PLEASE NOTE

The workshop takes place at Basekamp, Learn relief printmaking with linoleum blocks in this 723 Chestnut Street, one-day workshop. Participants will get an overview of 2nd Floor. basic to advanced techniques in linoleum printing and learn all about one-color cuts, the reduction method and multi-block printing. The workshops will also cover: A materials fee of $10 the basics of linoleum block preparation, image trans- is required to particifer onto blocks, the safe use of linoleum cutting tools, pate in the workshop. and the fundamentals of printing on proof presses. Participants will create a linocut of their choice, and with water-soluble inks, print with a variety of papers. Handtransfer methods will be used to print blocks.

photo credits: (left)Favianna Rodriguez, Jesus Barraza, and Melanie Cervantes; (middle) Quan Blanche and Beth Pulcinella; (right) bex*

programs

Artist Talks

Please note: Posters and limited edition prints of the works in this exhibition are available for sale. A price list is available upon request. As well full artist statements and bios are also available upon request.

curator denise m. brown

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exhibit design

+ installation sean stoops

Posters and limited edition prints of the works in this exhibition are available for sale. A price list is available upon request.

Full artist statements and biographies are also available upon request.

www.leeway.org