Crown Point Press is now presenting its annual Summer Choices group exhibition featuring a colorful selection of prints made by artists who have worked in the Crown Point studio over the years. Included in the exhibition are etchings by Anne Appleby, Richard Diebenkorn, Mary Heilmann, Shoichi Ida, Sol LeWitt, Tom Marioni, Dorothy Napangardi, David Nash, Nathan Oliveira, Laura Owens, Markus Raetz, Pat Steir, Wayne Thiebaud, and William T. Wiley.
During Mary Heilmann's most recent visit to the Crown Point studio, she created a small vibrant print titled, Undertow, 2006. She has said that "painting a line across the canvas is similar to the motion of a wave breaking" and in this water-inspired print she used the spit bite technique to paint oceanic currents onto the plate. The process beautifully captured her every brushstroke so the resulting print looks like watercolor. Inked in emerald green and printed on Japanese gampi paper, two diagonal squares overlap and meet at swirling spiral lines in the center. The angular form of Undertow echoes Heilmann's shaped canvases and recalls her playful style of geometric abstraction.
Nathan Oliveira's The Twin Runners, 2005 depicts two figures, side by side in motion. Oliveira chose a warm palette of umbers and ochres for this large, luminous etching and his masterful mark-making suggests a subtle forward motion into the space. These figures may symbolize companionship, support, or connection, but in any case the overall beauty that Oliveira infused into his work transcends his subject matter. Summer Choices will be on view in the gallery through September 2, 2011. Click here to see all of the prints included in the exhibition.