RISD MFA Printmaking Exhibition
June 24 – July 15, 2016
Opening Reception: Friday, June 24th, 6-8pm
NARS Foundation is proud to present The Glare, a group exhibition that brings together eight recent RISD MFA Printmaking graduates. Working in disparate media, the artists in this show each engage the print from a wide range of standpoints. The lineage of printmaking can be understood as a series of traditional methods that as they emerged, were cutting edge technologies with significant societal implications. Today, more traditional techniques have been replaced following the acceleration of new developments ranging from 3D printing to virtual reality. In turn, older methods become avenues for more nuanced material exploration. Curated by Leah Wolff, the exhibition includes work by Kate Aitchison, Hannah Bigeleisen, Zach Cramer, Nabil Gonzalez, M. Benjamin Herndon, Adam Porter, Laura Post, and Andrea Santos.
The Glare demonstrates how the material implications of the print continues to alter the role of author, producer, audience and consumer. Across these investigations, what emerges is a specific quality in the work in which the expectations of the viewer are constantly shifting. Likewise, the word “glare” exists in constant flux in relation to what it signifies. When applied to a subject, a glare takes the form of a fierce and probing stare. As an object, the meaning is transformed into a strong or dazzling light. There exists an inherent paradox within its contradictory meanings: A glare can probe for information - or alternatively - may obscure what it's meant to illuminate. Both readings contain a challenge to the conventional understanding of what it means to look at and be seen. The works in this exhibition offer ways to examine the parallel between the shifting meaning of the glare, and the material shift as it is understood within the ever-changing function of the print.
