Athens, Ga. – The Georgia Museum of Art at the University of Georgia will present “Paper in Profile: Mixografia and Taller de Gráfica Mexicana,” an exhibition featuring 3-D paper prints from 60 artists, from June 4 to Aug. 21. The exhibition will take over an entire wing of the museum’s galleries and provide inspiration for the bulk of its summer programming.
“Paper in Profile,” organized by Lynn Boland, the museum’s Pierre Daura Curator of European Art, encompasses more than 130 works on paper, copper casts and sculpture from the Mixografia Workshop. Each print is a fine-art paper relief created by hand, some as deep as 3 inches, incorporating previously unheard-of detail and sculptural form in a traditionally two-dimensional format. Artists with work in the exhibition include John Baldessari, Louise Bourgeois, Alberto Burri, Helen Frankenthaler, Ed Ruscha, Rufino Tamayo and Rachel Whiteread.
Luis and Lea Remba founded the Mixografia Workshop in Mexico City in 1968 as Taller de Gráfica Mexicana, when artist Pablo O’Higgins recommended they do so. A few years later, at Tamayo’s request, Luis Remba invented the workshop’s unique printing process, which involves pressing paper pulp onto an inked copper mold, allowing for prints that resemble bas-relief sculpture.
In the mid-1980s, the Rembas moved their workshop to Los Angeles, where it served as a hub for dozens of the biggest names in the contemporary art world. The diversity of artists who worked with the Rembas contributed to the workshop’s radical perspective on printmaking and helped to shape its collection as a rich historical archive of international contemporary prints.
“The multitude and variety of the workshop’s production provides a rich survey of international postwar and contemporary art,” Boland said. “At the same time, the workshop itself offers a compelling history of a family business advancing art through innovations in engineering.”
Exhibition texts will be available in English and Spanish, and a major catalog published by the museum will accompany the exhibition. In addition, Art Adventures, the museum’s free summer program for day cares, camps and community centers, will use “Paper in Profile” as its theme. Groups interested in registering for Art Adventures, which includes a tour of the exhibition and a hands-on art activity, should call 706-542-0448 or email branew@uga.edu to make a reservation.
Other related events include Teen Studio, a program for ages 13-18 to experiment with papermaking and collage techniques to create their own unique works of art on June 9 from 5:30-8:30 p.m. (the free event includes a pizza dinner but requires registration at callan@uga.edu or 706-542-8863); Artful Conversation, a tour focusing on only a few works in depth, with Callan Steinmann, associate curator of education, on June 29 at 2 p.m.; a film series focusing on artists who produced prints at the workshop, beginning July 7; docent-led tours on July 10 at 3 p.m. and July 27 at 2 p.m.; a Q&A with Shaye Remba, son of Mixografia founders Luis and Lea Remba, who now heads the workshop, on July 22 at 2 p.m.; 90 Carlton: Summer, the museum’s quarterly reception (free for members of the Friends of the Georgia Museum of Art, $5 for non-members) on July 22 at 6 p.m.; a Family Day on July 23 from 10 a.m. to noon; the museum’s annual Alfred Heber Holbrook lecture on Aug. 18 at 5:30 p.m. (speaker to be announced); and a tour with Boland on Aug. 17 at 2 p.m. All events are free and open to the public unless otherwise indicated.