2021-04-07
Printmakers collaborate in Waterworks on Paper
by GAYLE WILSON
This month, the Lunenburg Art Gallery on Lincoln Street is hosting an exhibition based on a collaborative exchange project between Mahone Bay Printmakers and the Ottawa-Gatineau Printmakers' Connective.
The exhibit, Waterworks On Paper, can also be viewed at the Ottawa School of Art and on-line.
The printmakers dedicate this project as a tribute to Edward Porter - "artist, sailor, kind gentleman, Prof. Emeritus NSCAD U, and founder of the Mahone Bay Printmakers," the group's Sally Warren told LighthouseNOW in an email.
An internationally renowned printmaker originally from the U.S. who is now in his 80s, Porter has lived and worked in Nova Scotia since the 1960s. He arrived with his family in a Volkswagen van from his teaching job at the Philadelphia School of Art to teach at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design.
He has Master of Fine Arts from the Yale School of Art.
"He has spent his life opening doors for printmakers and those who follow print and his work is in many major collections in the US and Canada. Hence the tribute from both Ottawa Gatineau and NS printmakers," Warren noted.
As is typical in such a collaboration, an equal number of printmakers from Nova Scotia and from Ottawa each committed to creating an edition of identical prints around a theme by a specific date. In this case, it was 22 printmakers with 24 prints each around the theme of water.
The 528 prints have been collected and collated and each participating artist receives a portfolio composed of all 22 of the original prints. The two extra collections are used for exhibition - one set for each studio.
Running alongside the special exhibition, Mahone Bay Printmakers' monthly Members Showcase will feature work from more than 50 local artists with a wide range of experience, style, subject matter and price range.
The exhibition runs from April 2 to May 1, Thursday through Sunday from noon to 5 p.m.
