Alan Shields, Rolling Orbit: Prints from the 1970s

ALAN SHIELDS

Rolling Orbit: Prints from the 1970s

Alan Shields Rolling Orbit: Prints from the 1970s May 17 – July 27, 2018

Kool Set - Box Sweet Jane's Egg Triumvirate III, 1978 Lithograph, hand-stamping with screenprinted paper constructions on duplex handmade paper (cut-up and slotted), paper by HMP Paper Mill 24 x 24 inches (61 x 61 cm), Edition of 18

Van Doren Waxter is pleased to present Rolling Orbit, an exhibition of 18 prints from the 1970s by Alan Shields, on view from May 17 through July 27, 2018. The focus of the exhibition, the fourth solo show the gallery has presented for the artist since 2011, will be a highly-dynamic installation and viewing experience in the gallery’s upper east side townhouse of the earliest prints made by Shields at Jones Road Press and Stable, along with works made at Tyler Graphics Ltd. Shields’s approach to printmaking mirrored his achievement in painting, which was to upend the conventions of the medium. Rather than executing a single conventional technique such as etching or lithography on paper, he considered paper as a medium that was as important as his treatment of it. Shields’s use of handmade paper opened up new opportunities in format allowing him to layer, dye, stitch and make three-dimensional forms. Many mediums were incorporated into the whole: lithograph, serigraph, flocking, collage, embossing and relief printing. His experimental approach to printmaking was anything goes, including mistakes that were incorporated into the process of producing these new and early prints, most of which were made in small editions.

What is most evident in this body of work is the artist’s pleasure in art making. He draws the viewer to the work through what he called the ‘traces of hand’. Looking at Kool Set begs the question of how the artist so skillfully engineered this three-dimensional hanging grid. In other works such as Dorothy Jean (named for his sister) rendered to mimic a farm gate or the stitched and layered Two Four Too redolent of a quilt, both of which are double-sided, Shields demonstrates an exuberance of texture and color that elicits joyful admiration.

The works in the exhibition will be displayed unframed using wall magnets to create a multi-dimensional viewing experience. Those prints that are double-sided will be suspended from the ceiling in plexibox frames inviting the viewer to activate the space in and around the works themselves.

Van Doren Waxter presented works by Alan Shields in a recent 2018 group exhibition, Alan Shields Project, featuring the work of Lisa Alvarado, Cheryl Donegan, Aiko Hachisuka, Channing Hansen, Naotaka Hiro, Alan Shields, Martha Tuttle, and B. Wurtz.

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Chocles, 1973 A two-sided grid print in lithograph, serigraph, flocking and collage on die-cut Morilla AP Etchching 14 1/4 x 14 1/2 inches (36.2 x 36.8 cm) Edition of 25 5

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Dorothy Jean, 1973 A two-sided grid print in dyeing, lithograph, serigraph, flocking, glitter and collage on die-cut Morilla AP Etching 6 1/2 x 14 1/4 inches (16.5 x 36.2 cm) Edition of 25 7

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The International Teddy Bear, 1973 Dyeing and serigraph on Arches Cover 21 3/4 x 22 inches (55.2 x 55.9 cm) Edition of 75

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O.J., 1974 Relief printing, etching, serigraph and vegetable printing on black, silk content handmade paper 6 1/4 x 6 inches (15.9 x 15.2 cm) Edition of 28 10

Black Bart, 1974 A two-sided grid print in dyeing, lithograph, serigraph, embossing and collage on die-cut Arches Cover 20 3/4 x 20 3/4 inches (52.7 x 52.7 cm) Edition of 12 11

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Puny, 1974 A two-sided grid print in lithograph, serigraph, flocking, vegetable printing and collage on die-cut Arches Cover 10 1/2 x 10 1/4 inches (26.7 x 26 cm) Edition of 12 13

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Rose Bowl, 1974 Lithograph on handmade paper 19 5/8 inches in diameter (49.8 cm) Edition of 19

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Scaba Pro, 1974 Relief printing, serigraph, flocking and embossing on black, silk content handmade paper 13 x 13 inches (33 x 33 cm) Edition of 30 16

Slopes of Kentucky, 1974 Dyeing, etching and lithograph on Arches Cover 10 1/2 x 12 inches (26.7 x 30.5 cm) Edition of 31

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Spruce, 1976 Relief printing, serigraph, glitter, vegetable printing and embossing on Upper U.S. Paper Mill, handmade paper 9 5/8 x 9 5/8 inches (24.4 x 24.4 cm) Edition of 20 18

Noah's Chastity, 1977 Relief printing, serigraph, flocking, glitter and die-cutting on Upper U.S. Paper Mill, handmade paper, with leaves of pink and green handmade paper collaged onto the recto and verso respectively and overprinted 19 inches in diameter (48.3 cm) Edition of 20 19

Guardian Mole, 1978 Etching, aquatint, relief on Zaan handmade paper 10 3/8 inches in diameter (25.4 cm) Edition of 34

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Kool Set - Box Sweet Jane's Egg Triumvirate III, 1978 Lithograph, hand-stamping with screenprinted paper constructions on duplex handmade paper (cut-up and slotted), paper by HMP Paper Mill 24 x 24 x 3 1/4 inches (61 x 61 x 8.3 cm) Edition of 18

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detail

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Rolling Orbit, 1978 A two-sided print in relief printing and serigraph on Aime Japan paper 25 1/4 x 13 1/2 inches (64.1 x 34.3 cm) Edition of 20 23

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Sea City, 1978 A two-sided print in relief printing and serigraph on Aime Japan paper 25 1/2 x 25 inches (64.8 x 63.5 cm) Edition of 21

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Two Four Too, 1978 A two-sided print in relief printing, serigraph and collage by stitching on double couched Upper U.S. paper Mill, handmade paper 21 1/2 x 20 1/2 inches (54.6 x 52.1 cm) Edition of 20 27

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Tombstone Plate, 1978 Serigraph and relief print on triple couched Upper U.S. Paper Mill, handmade paper 21 inches in diameter (53.34 cm) Edition of 21 29

Soft Action, 1979 Linocut, relief, stitching, collage, two layers Upper U.S. Paper Mill, handmade paper 24 x 18 inches (61 x 45.7 cm) AP 2/4, edition of 10 30

Alan Shields 1944 - 2005 Born in Herington, Kansas (1944). Attended Kansas State University (1963-66). In college studied civil engineering and studio art. Studied the work of Buckminster Fuller.

Participated in Summer Theater Workshops at the University of Maine (1966-67). Moved to New York City (1968). Showed with Paula Cooper Gallery (1968- 1991).

Begins three-dimensional, two-sided paintings (1970). Purchased a house on Shelter Island, but kept studio in New York City (1971). Took up permanent residence on Shelter Island (1972). Focused on print and papermaking and made over thirty editions between 1971 – 1974. Received Guggenheim Fellowship and traveled in South America for three months (1973). Went to the Ahmadabad retreat in India (1980). Died in Shelter Island, NY (2005). Museum exhibitions include: Alan Shields: Common Threads, Parrish Art Museum, Water Mill, NY (2018); Alan Shields: Protracted Simplicity (1966-1985), Aspen Art Museum, Aspen, CO (2016), Alan Shields: In Motion, Parrish Art Museum, Water Mill, NY (2015), Into the Maze, SITE Santa Fe, NM (2014), Stirring Up the Waters, Parrish Art Museum, Southampton, NY (2007); Alan Shields: A Survey, The Beach Museum of Art, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS (1999); 1968 – 1983: The Work of Alan Shields, Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Memphis, TN (1983), traveled to Lowe Art Museum, Coral Gables, FL and Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO; Alan Shields: Paintings and Prints, Williams College Museum of Art, Williamstown, MA (1981). Included in museum collections such as the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Museum of art, New York, NY, Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY, Tate Collection, London, UK, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN, and the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY.

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Published on the occasion of the exhibition Alan Shields Rolling Orbit Prints from the1970s May 17 - July 27, 2018 Edited by Dorsey Waxter, Sophia Jackson Designed by Nick Naber Artwork Photography by Charles Benton Š2018 Alan Shields Estate Front and back cover Image: Alan Shields, Puny, 1974 A two-sided grid print in lithograph, serigraph, flocking, vegetable printing and collage on die-cut Arches Cover 10 1/2 x 10 1/4 inches (26.7 x 26 cm), Edition of 12 Page 1, 2: Alan Shield, Chocles, 1973 A two-sided grid print in lithograph, serigraph, flocking and collage on die-cut Morilla AP Etching 14 1/4 x 14 1/2 inches (36.2 x 36.8 cm), Edition of 25 [detail] Page 2: Bill Weege with Alan Shields at Jones Road Print Shop and Stable, November 1971 Page 32: Bill Weege with Alan Shields at Jones Road Print Shop and Stable, November 1971 We would like to thank Victoria Shields Weslek and Jason Shields for their unwavering support in the production of this exhibition.

All rights reserved. No part of the contents of this catalogue may be reproduced without permission of the publisher.

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