The Wood Engravers’ Network is thrilled to announce its Third Triennial Exhibition, featuring sixty-four (64) engravings by thirty-seven (37) artists from the United States, Canada, Ireland and Belgium.
Starting its three year journey through North America, Stockton University will kick off the new exhibit during the Wood Engravers’ Network’s annual conference (June 25–July 1) hosted by Stockton University, Michael McGarvey and Denise McGarvey, with assistance from Rebecca Gilbert and Michelle Post. The prints will be on view June 24 – August 8, 2017, with a lecture by visiting artist, Gaylord Shanilec on Friday June 30 at 3:30pm and continuing with a reception from 4:30 to 6:30. During WEN’s Third Triennial Exhibition reception on June 30, members of the Wood Engravers’ Network will also have a selection of engravings to view and discuss with each artist in attendance. Lecture and reception are free and open to the public!
While wood engraving was once considered efficient, now the process is considered very slow. Its intimate scale and minute detail charm practitioners into working 40 hours or more on one 4 inch square piece of wood. This group exhibit provides a view of the contemporary practice of wood engraving and the wide variety of styles and approaches to the medium.
Exhibiting artists include:
Wesley Bates (Ontario, Canada), Nick Baute (Kentucky), Evan Charney (Massachusetts), Paul Constance (Virginia), Nancy Darrell (North Carolina), Tony Drehfal (Wisconsin), Colleen Dwire (California), Leslie Evans (Massachusetts), Andy Farkas (North Carolina), Rich Gere (Texas), Rebecca Gilbert (Pennsylvania) R.P. Hale (New Hampshire), Gwen Heffner (Kentucky), Jon Hinkel (Minnesota), Eric Hoffman (Rhode Island), Anna Hogan (Massachusetts), Mirka Hokkanen (Finland), Judith Jaidinger (Illinois), Cindy Koopman (Minnesota), Channing Lefebvre (New York), Susan Mannion (Ireland), Michael McGarvey (New Jersey), John McWilliams (South Carolina), Joel Moline (Minnesota), Carl Montford (Washington), David Moyer (Pennsylvania), William Myers (Minnesota), Neil Peck (Washington), Sylvia Pixley (Michigan), Joanne Price (Kentucky), Abigail Rorer (Massachusetts), Anders Sandstrom (indiana), Kerri Safranski (Indiana), Robert Simola (California), James G. Todd (Montana), Manuel Vermeire (Brussels, Belgium), Richard Wagener (California)
Juror: Gray Zeitz, Founder and Operator of Larkspur Press, a nationally acclaimed fine press publisher working for more than forty years in Monterey, Kentucky. His specialty is printing handcrafted editions of Kentucky’s authors, including such figures as Wendell Berry, Bobbie Ann Mason, James Baker Hall, Frederick Smock, Guy Davenport, and Ed McClanahan. He also calls on talented wood engravers and expert bookbinders to collaborate in his work.
Also on view simultaneously with the WEN Triennial exhibition is a selection of prints by Stefan Martin from the Michelle Stone collection.
The featured image above: New England Flora & Fauna was organized as a Wood Engravers’ Network collaborative print by Leslie Evans at the 2013 WEN conference in Andover, Massachusetts. Contributing artists included Chris Daunt, Miriam MacGregor, Tony Drehfal, Mirka Hokkanen, Jim Horton, Abigail Rorer, Fiorella Mori, Keith Cranmer, Lelsie Evans, Michael McGarvey, Gerard Brender á Brandis, Carl Montford, Julianna Humphreys, Eric Gulliver, Nancy Darrell, Jim Todd, Steven Lee Davis, Dale Kennedy, Sarah Whorf, Johanna Mueller, and Jennifer O’Keefe.