Scene

See. Read. Act.

A survey of prints that inspire action at Janet Turner Print Museum

“Go Slo, Luke 2:14-51” (1963), by Corita Kent

Francisco Goya’s painting “Saturn Devouring his Son” overlain with the text, “Amerika is Devouring Its Children,” thus unifying high art from the early 19th century with the very real concerns of the draftbound young men protesting the war in Vietnam. Of particular value and interest to visitors of the online gallery is the extensive list of links to source materials offered at the bottom of each of the three sections of the exhibition’s web page. Links range from highly academic essays such as Michael Rossman’s 1986 “Evolution of the Social Serigraphy Movement In the San Francisco Bay Area, 1966-1986,” to an “AntiRacist Print & Printmaking” page and a simple Instagram link to “Printmaking As Resistance” (@printmakingasresistance). The museum also provides an One of the most daunting aspects of spreading information is getting people to actually notice and pay attention to, perhaps act upon, the image or combination of words. The current online exhibition at the Janet Turner Print Museum at Chico State, Social Commentary: Review: Social Commentary: Prints and Politics shows through March 21. Online only. by Carey Wilson legs and the soles of a pair of dirty feet emerging from beneath an ambiguous drapery that may be the edge of a blanket, a dress or a body bag. The bleak simplicity and the mystery of a figure that appears to be lying face down—though not fully in view—seems to imply a death or other scene of humanity lost. In her 1960s print work, Corita Kent combined words with simple but eye-catching color designs to elicit reaction to social issues. In this exhibit, her 1963 serigraph, “Go Slo, Luke 2:14-51” may initially compel the viewer to ask, “Why should I?” That question is answered if one heeds the advice and takes time to interactive “virtual tour” of the exhibition, complete with spacey electronic soundtrack, that is worth checking out if only for its technical “Wow” factor. The viewer can zip around from wall to wall in the gallery by navigating the 4K-resolution video with a mouse or touchpad. However, the three individual online slideshows of the art provide the most detailed close viewing of each piece. The online program suggests that “printmakers use their art to deepen the conversation about social justice and so much more,” and there is plenty worth commenting on in this engaging exhibit of pictures and words. Ω Janet Turner Print Museum Chico State Prints and Politics, addresses this enjoy the vibrant primary colors and engage with the playful design of the print. csuchico.edu/turner challenge as stant bombardment of political mes- More directly confrontational, it pertains to saging in America today, the exhibit both graphically and textually, are art that com- offers a broad historical perspective semi-abstract images that form an the pieces presented in the “Berkeley municates messages of politics and and background to current multime- ornate mandala-like composition Political Posters” section of the protest. dia efforts to share information. that also includes below it a literal exhibition. Composed partly of

“Printmaking possesses the The earliest works are seven subtext with the artist’s handwritten works that [local activist] Wayne unique ability to disseminate highly detailed mid-18th-century explanation: “In this, the transitional Pease acquired in Berkeley in 1970 information camouflaged as art,” engravings by English satirical artist image, I ‘peeled back’ the structure and later donated to the museum, reads a quote from artist Jessica William Hogarth, depicting the cul- to reveal the formerly hidden form. this collection includes examples Camponigro in the online program tural vagaries and economic iniqui- What a relief to finally say: ‘Here I of prints from the era of Vietnam for the show. “Innately more egali- ties of London at the dawn of the era am, a woman, with a woman’s body protests, the Kent State killings, the tarian and accessible, and therefore of mass communication via print. and woman’s point of view.’” formation of Black Panthers, and less precious and valuable, the There are a wide range of 20th- Making the argument that an Berkeley’s Free Speech Movement production of prints is often a com- century examples, from Richard image unaccompanied by text also of the mid-1960s, sometimes printed munity activity that can also easily Hamilton’s 1970 “Kent State” can make a powerful statement on paper pulled and repurposed from enter the public sphere.” serigraph to Judy Chicago’s color- is Kiki Smith’s “Still” (2006), an university office garbage cans. One

In light of the current rise of ful 1974 “Peeling Back.” Her litho- “etching/spit bite/aquatint/soft- poster presents a screenprinted, redsocial-justice activism and the con- graph features intimately feminine ground/hardground” image of two white-and-blue image derived from

“Still” (2006), by Kiki Smith