|
|
| Catherine Sturgeon Sullivan, curator of the Janet Turner Print Gallery and Collection, with one of the winning prints, The Bathtub with Two Drains. |
Catherine Sturgeon Sullivan has done an exemplary job coordinating both the competition and the exhibit for the 1997 Janet Turner National Print Competition, showing in the Janet Turner Gallery in Laxson Auditorium and the University Art Gallery in Taylor Hall. The competition was juried by internationally acclaimed Berkeley artist Karl Kasten, who accepted the arduous task of jurying an enormous number of submissions into a relatively small representative collection. Sullivan, curator for the exhibit, said he "masterfully" met the challenge having to choose only eighty out of six hundred prints submitted by 237 artists from around the nation. Several were from California. Claudia Steel, a local Chicoan, had a digital computer piece selected.
Four Purchase Awards will help expand the Turner Gallery's collection of reputable prints. The Best in Show was received by Juergen Strunck for CKC 18; Friend's Award, Yuji Hirasuka, Deception; First Place, Jimin Lee, The Bathtub with Two Drains; and Josie Otwell Memorial Award, Keiko Nelson, Tranquil, Tribulation, Triumph. Other honorary awards included a first place Joseph M. Kaveney Memorial Award given to Gary Shaffer for Hang Down House.
Provost Scott G. McNall introduced Kasten and the winners. The San Franciscan-born painter-printer's contribution to printing was not only as an inspirational artist, but also as the inventor of the K-B Etching Press. Created in 1967, this light-weight press enabled prints with multiple-colored images to be made from a single press run, using vacuum-formed plastic plates with movable parts, each carrying a color.
"N-G, no good. That's one juror's criteria for choosing what makes for a good print," said Kasten in his comments at the awards reception, held last Sunday in the portico, "but it's not the right one." To Kasten, jurying is a strain, especially when the artist is a friend. "Knowing some of the artists made it difficult," said Kasten. He explained that when he says "I'm sorry" to the artists who didn't receive an award, it is more than an apology; it is an honor in itself--recognition for a job well done held against the best in print-making. Jurying should not be a vehicle for self-emphasis, but for recognizing as many worthy works as possible."
Kasten's selection has resulted in an astonishing showcase of talent demonstrating the artists abilities to masterfully produce various forms of prints. For example, Herlinde Spahr's Iris captures the eye with its 3-D effects, a lithograph combining wood, paper, and gold paint for an impressionable statement in beauty. On the other hand, Yuji Hirasuka's Deception, one of the two first-place purchase awards, is one that hooks the mind's eye with intrigue, wit, and color.
What is the human spirit? All art work attempts to answer this question and the 1997 Janet Turner National Print Competition offers a number of interesting meditations showing how we can relate to humanity, politics, religion, other cultures, the cosmos, and ourselves. The variety, alone, is provocative. If you haven't seen the exhibition, it provides a rare opportunity to see a representation of the best in national print-making. The exhibition runs through October 5. See Exhibitions for more information.
DA