Presented By: Residential College
Art Exhibition: The Indexical Print, curated by Andrew Thompson
A multimedia exhibition of contemporary art with a focus on printmaking and other methods of image replication and reproduction
“...pronouns announce themselves as belonging to a different type of sign: the kind that is termed the index. As distinct from symbols, indexes establish their meaning along the axis of a physical relationship to their referents.”
Krauss, Rosalind, “Notes on the Index” 1977
Notes on the Index was Rosalind Krauss’s attempt to corral some of the divergent, pluralistic themes in contemporary art of the late 1970’s under a unifying identifier: the index. Indexical art was defined as artworks whose physical and aesthetic manifestation was correlated and contingent upon specific conditions of the work’s subject matter or, as more broadly described, ‘the referent’ of the work.
Under the guise of “the index”, the artist’s internal monologue of creative decision-making might follow like: “How big should the work be? As big as that.” “How much should the work cost? As much as this.” “What color should I use? The color of that.” “What shape should it be? It should be shaped like this.”
For this exhibition, The Indexical Print, Krauss’s notion of indexical art is being narrowed towards printmaking and other methods of image replication & reproduction that follow printmaking’s lead. The artists in this exhibition might work a plate, or a digital image, or computer code to conduct the idea of the image into another medium or visual representation to physically manifest their creative labor.
Featured in this exhibition are prints by Jay Fox, Ruth Koelewyn & Lee Marchalonis, 3D printed sculptures by Jason Ferguson, jacquard weaving from Cathryn Amidei, data visualizations by Jeffrey Lancaster and site-specific paintings from Ellen Rutt.
About the Artists:
Cathryn Amidei is a “Textilian” fluent in many forms of textile craft. She has dedicated herself to Jacquard weaving for the past 15+ years and is the studio director at The Jacquard Center in Hendersonville North Carolina. Cathryn holds an MFA in Textiles from Eastern Michigan University and a BFA from the University of Illinois in Anthropology/Russian. She was Associate Professor at Eastern Michigan University until 2018, when she resigned to pursue her art, and independence. Cathryn is a member of the Washington Street Gallery in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Jason J Ferguson uses humor, the uncanny, and an absurdist voice to create public interventions, performance, video, and sculptural objects. He was raised in the small town of Poolesville, Maryland and moved to Baltimore to study art at Towson University and then to the University of Delaware where he received his MFA. Ferguson has exhibited his work internationally including exhibitions in Germany, the Netherlands, Brazil and across the US. Ferguson is an Associate Professor in the School of Art & Design at Eastern Michigan University.
Jay Fox is a printmaker, papermaker, and sculptor whose practice is guided by storytelling and objects of importance which take the form of ephemera and memorials. Originally from Morganton, North Carolina, Fox received his BFA in printmaking from the Savannah College of Art and Design in 2008. In 2014, he received his MFA from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Print and Narrative Forms. Jay is currently the press manager of the Small Craft Advisory Press at Florida State University after five years of working at Penland School of Craft as the Print, Letterpress, Books, and Paper coordinator.
Ruth Koelewyn's work uses familiar objects and events to reveal how our interactions with them shape ourselves and our context for living. In addition to her solo work, her practice includes both curatorial and collaborative projects. Ruth’s work is regularly exhibited and has been supported by the Pennsylvania Council of the Arts, the Society of North American Goldsmiths, the Mondriaan Foundation, and the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts. She studied at Syracuse University and Cranbrook Academy of Art.
#skyshapes
Jeffrey Lancaster has done a lot of different things and worn a number of very different hats: chemist, artist, historian, librarian, developer, educator. He’s a curious person with a breadth and depth of interests and experiences, and loves to bring that diversity of thought to bear on new problems, some of his own making and some from other people. He has a BFA from Washington University, an MS from Oxford, and a PhD from Columbia University in chemistry. Lancaster is based in Rutherford, NJ where he freelances as a product developer and educational & business consultant. He is co-founder and chief technology officer of Fondo, a startup focused on helping young people visualize their paths into the future of work via structured serendipity and exploration.
Lee Marchalonis is a Lecturer in Stamps School of Art & Design and lead printer at Signal Return letterpress shop in Detroit’s Eastern Market. She has a MFA in printmaking from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville where she also worked as a letterpress printer at Yee-Haw Industries. She has printed professionally at Kala Institute in Berkeley, California and studied book arts at the University of Iowa. She was a recipient of a year long Stein Scholarship at the Center for Book Arts in New York City in 2013, and her work is in Special Collections libraries throughout the U.S.
Ellen Rutt is a Detroit-based interdisciplinary artist and activist who has a BFA from the Stamps School of Art & Design. She makes bold mixed-media paintings, murals, installations and wearables. Her recent solo show ‘This Must Be The Place” was created in large part through a process of travelling the globe & capturing visual elements or ‘environmental mementos’ through direct tracing of the physical environment, both natural & human-made. Rutt has exhibited her work nationally and most recently completed her second artist residency at Temple Children in Hilo, Hawaii.
About the Curator:
Andrew Thompson is a sculptor and installation artist, educator, curator, and musician based in Southwest Detroit. Thompson grew up in Kansas City, MO and received his BFA in Sculpture from the Kansas City Art Institute. Thompson moved from Cowtown to Motown to receive his MFA in Sculpture from Cranbrook Academy of Art. He has been exhibiting his sculptures and installations throughout Southeast Michigan for over a decade and helps to curate and coordinate shows at a number of venues including as an exhibition committee member with Detroit Artists Market. He is a lecturer in the Stamps School of Art & Design and has taught at a number of other schools, most notably for one year at Antioch College in Yellow Springs, OH.
Krauss, Rosalind, “Notes on the Index” 1977
Notes on the Index was Rosalind Krauss’s attempt to corral some of the divergent, pluralistic themes in contemporary art of the late 1970’s under a unifying identifier: the index. Indexical art was defined as artworks whose physical and aesthetic manifestation was correlated and contingent upon specific conditions of the work’s subject matter or, as more broadly described, ‘the referent’ of the work.
Under the guise of “the index”, the artist’s internal monologue of creative decision-making might follow like: “How big should the work be? As big as that.” “How much should the work cost? As much as this.” “What color should I use? The color of that.” “What shape should it be? It should be shaped like this.”
For this exhibition, The Indexical Print, Krauss’s notion of indexical art is being narrowed towards printmaking and other methods of image replication & reproduction that follow printmaking’s lead. The artists in this exhibition might work a plate, or a digital image, or computer code to conduct the idea of the image into another medium or visual representation to physically manifest their creative labor.
Featured in this exhibition are prints by Jay Fox, Ruth Koelewyn & Lee Marchalonis, 3D printed sculptures by Jason Ferguson, jacquard weaving from Cathryn Amidei, data visualizations by Jeffrey Lancaster and site-specific paintings from Ellen Rutt.
About the Artists:
Cathryn Amidei is a “Textilian” fluent in many forms of textile craft. She has dedicated herself to Jacquard weaving for the past 15+ years and is the studio director at The Jacquard Center in Hendersonville North Carolina. Cathryn holds an MFA in Textiles from Eastern Michigan University and a BFA from the University of Illinois in Anthropology/Russian. She was Associate Professor at Eastern Michigan University until 2018, when she resigned to pursue her art, and independence. Cathryn is a member of the Washington Street Gallery in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Jason J Ferguson uses humor, the uncanny, and an absurdist voice to create public interventions, performance, video, and sculptural objects. He was raised in the small town of Poolesville, Maryland and moved to Baltimore to study art at Towson University and then to the University of Delaware where he received his MFA. Ferguson has exhibited his work internationally including exhibitions in Germany, the Netherlands, Brazil and across the US. Ferguson is an Associate Professor in the School of Art & Design at Eastern Michigan University.
Jay Fox is a printmaker, papermaker, and sculptor whose practice is guided by storytelling and objects of importance which take the form of ephemera and memorials. Originally from Morganton, North Carolina, Fox received his BFA in printmaking from the Savannah College of Art and Design in 2008. In 2014, he received his MFA from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Print and Narrative Forms. Jay is currently the press manager of the Small Craft Advisory Press at Florida State University after five years of working at Penland School of Craft as the Print, Letterpress, Books, and Paper coordinator.
Ruth Koelewyn's work uses familiar objects and events to reveal how our interactions with them shape ourselves and our context for living. In addition to her solo work, her practice includes both curatorial and collaborative projects. Ruth’s work is regularly exhibited and has been supported by the Pennsylvania Council of the Arts, the Society of North American Goldsmiths, the Mondriaan Foundation, and the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts. She studied at Syracuse University and Cranbrook Academy of Art.
#skyshapes
Jeffrey Lancaster has done a lot of different things and worn a number of very different hats: chemist, artist, historian, librarian, developer, educator. He’s a curious person with a breadth and depth of interests and experiences, and loves to bring that diversity of thought to bear on new problems, some of his own making and some from other people. He has a BFA from Washington University, an MS from Oxford, and a PhD from Columbia University in chemistry. Lancaster is based in Rutherford, NJ where he freelances as a product developer and educational & business consultant. He is co-founder and chief technology officer of Fondo, a startup focused on helping young people visualize their paths into the future of work via structured serendipity and exploration.
Lee Marchalonis is a Lecturer in Stamps School of Art & Design and lead printer at Signal Return letterpress shop in Detroit’s Eastern Market. She has a MFA in printmaking from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville where she also worked as a letterpress printer at Yee-Haw Industries. She has printed professionally at Kala Institute in Berkeley, California and studied book arts at the University of Iowa. She was a recipient of a year long Stein Scholarship at the Center for Book Arts in New York City in 2013, and her work is in Special Collections libraries throughout the U.S.
Ellen Rutt is a Detroit-based interdisciplinary artist and activist who has a BFA from the Stamps School of Art & Design. She makes bold mixed-media paintings, murals, installations and wearables. Her recent solo show ‘This Must Be The Place” was created in large part through a process of travelling the globe & capturing visual elements or ‘environmental mementos’ through direct tracing of the physical environment, both natural & human-made. Rutt has exhibited her work nationally and most recently completed her second artist residency at Temple Children in Hilo, Hawaii.
About the Curator:
Andrew Thompson is a sculptor and installation artist, educator, curator, and musician based in Southwest Detroit. Thompson grew up in Kansas City, MO and received his BFA in Sculpture from the Kansas City Art Institute. Thompson moved from Cowtown to Motown to receive his MFA in Sculpture from Cranbrook Academy of Art. He has been exhibiting his sculptures and installations throughout Southeast Michigan for over a decade and helps to curate and coordinate shows at a number of venues including as an exhibition committee member with Detroit Artists Market. He is a lecturer in the Stamps School of Art & Design and has taught at a number of other schools, most notably for one year at Antioch College in Yellow Springs, OH.
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