The View from Here: Contemporary Russian and American Screenprints

“Plan to make an extended visit—or multiple visits—to absorb the depth of the work in this show.”

– Dave Rootes, Colorado Springs Independent

“The literal, profound differences between the two countries are some of the most intriguing aspects of this exhibition.”

– Alex Miokovic and Heidi Nickisher, Rochester City Newspaper

A fashion model sports a camouflage bikini in the inferno of the Gulf War, amidst battle-weary marines; a patchwork of cancelled postage stamps all feature the stern, bewhiskered faces of Russian Tsars; R-rated tarot cards eroticize the 1939 Hitler-Stalin Pact into something more than a handshake…

The irreverent Russian and American printmakers of the Hand Print Workshop are known for tackling subjects both jocular and taboo. The common thread is social relevance: the American printmakers, most of them minority artists, touch on aspects of America’s stratified society, while the Russians give full rein to their post-Perestroika license to satirize history, politics, and Soviet social realism.

A colorful, sometimes shocking, excavation of history and cultural identity, this exhibition raises fascinating comparisons between American and Russian culture and heritage. Included are such artists as Barton Lidice Benes, William Christenberry, Y. David Chung, Vitaly Komar and Alexander Melamid, Hung Liu, Igor Makarevich, Pavel Makov, Juane Quick-to-See Smith, Renee Stou, and Carrie Mae Weems. First shown at The State Tretiakov Gallery in Moscow, the U.S. version included a selection of 70 screenprints by 21 artists working within the Hand Print Workshop International, a nonprofit collaborative in Alexandria, Virginia.

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