Tallman on Contemporary Understandings of Print

[20 Sept]

Susan Tallman at Universty Galleries – Editor in chief of Art in Print Magazine.

In Tallman's introduction to the publication Art in Print over five years ago, she stated that "historians and curators increasingly look at art objects more as very interesting nodes in a network of cultural exchanges."[1] This was a generative realization for me that print should be acknowledged readily in the contemporary arts. Ms. Tallman has experienced, however, that the mode of its viewing today often contradicts such a presupposition. 

In her juror's statement for this show, Beyond the Norm, Tallman expresses an interest in the "powerful interdependence of material object and immaterial idea." This fundamental rhetoric destabilizes in a fresh way the pureness of the photograph and any of its associated media. She goes on to conclude further that "printing comes with implied claims to objective knowledge: for more than half a millennium it has been the physical substance of learning." Her curation, therefore, is concerned with an interest in the didactic, dialogic, and pedagogic nature of print.

Christiane Baumgartner, Manhattan Transfer–2010, woodcut on kozo paper

Tallman argues largely that print has foundational qualities but is much more expansive than what we normally consider apparent; the term has come to be dismissed and reinstated in the contemporary conversations of viable representation. Her intent was to bring a basic understanding of these attributes to the fore. 

Early on in the lecture, Tallman complicated even the early and notable users of print technology by revealing that, "For Degas, etchings were a reference point to come back to." Edgar Degas' use of Mary Cassatt's image as muse was further enhanced by the accessibility of reproduction. 

Edgar Degas, Mary Cassatt at the Louvre: The Etruscan Gallery, 

1879–1880, softground etching, drypoint, aquatint, and etching

retouched with red chalk, The Art Institute of Chicago, Albert Roullier

Memorial Collection. Photography © The Art Institute of Chicago

She went on to question Richter's envisioning of image in his strip 'paintings'; these were digital renderings of previous works' colors layered one of top of another. While this makes for a compelling discussion of reuse in art, Richter still holds fast to his inclination to a painterly aura: "In painting, we rearrange ourselves, as the art wraps around us and is static in this sense." Tallman points out here that viewers of prints are allowed much more flexibility in seeing. We are free to move and arrange the pieces in front of us, such as a library with catalogues of prints.

As to be expected, then, "Richter's work are the most painterly paintings." In this instance, Richter has a goal in mind of operating both within a print dynamic through copying painted matter; however, in its function as a piece mounted to the wall, this series is experienced very much as a painting and not as a print.

Gerhad Richter, Installation view “Gerhard Richter, “ Marian Goodman Gallery,
London, 2014. Courtesy of the artist and Marian Goodman Gallery

Edgar Degas, Mary Cassatt at the Louvre: The Paintings Gallery, 1885, pastel over softground etching, drypoint, aquatint, and etching, The Art Institute of Chicago, Bequest of Kate L. Brewster. Photography © The Art Institute of Chicago

Mehretu and Guyton were both used as examples of syntax and connection, two of the most impactful conversations brought to light. As for Mehretu's large, highly detailed aquatint, the way that she extends skilled labor with the evocation of line is nothing short of exemplary. Tallman posits that print "engages us in the illusion of line and dots." Meilan's Veil of Veronica also prompts this discussion to a relation with drawing, although the mechanized process of transferring images is very much unique. The inherency of a 'series' further develops our understanding of art as process or trials, and challenges our ideal of a single masterwork. The example of Guyton finally brings out the irony of commercial art sales that largely adheres to the marketing strategy of masterwork. When this clashes with the world of printmaking, however, Wade Guyton was able to point to the powers of social media sharing and mass reproduction that is so crucially ubiquitous today. If the art 'industry' and contemporary scenes are to embrace the craft steeped in history and tradition of learning and depicting, Tallman asserts that we must abandon painterly rhetoric and recognize the current parallel worlds of digital and print.

Julie Mehretu's Auguries 2010, 12-panel aquatint with spit bite (from 48 plates) 

Wade Guyton Untitled (Fire, Red/Black U), 2005–reprinted by artist