Art

Flint Print Club

In 2007, the Flint Institute of Arts established the Flint Print Club. Its mission is to develop connoisseurship among its members and educate the general public about prints, printmaking and print collecting through its semi-annual Print Fair and annual print edition. The Club is limited to 100 members, so the edition is always limited to 100 signed and numbered impressions. Over the past decade, the FIA has been fortunate to work with a slate of internationally recognized artists: Janet Fish, Richard Bosman, Gladys Nilsson, Mary Lee Bendolph, Marylyn Dintenfass, Sidney Hurwitz, Hunt Slonem, April Gornik, and Karsten Creightney.

Three of the past nine years saw all 100 memberships purchased, but the other six years still have prints available. To distribute the outstanding inventory of past commissioned prints, remaining editions are available for purchase at $500 for current Print Club members and $600 for non-members. There are a limited number of prints for each of these editions and these will be sold on a first-come, first-served basis while supplies last.

To inquire about available prints, please contact Cory Potter of the FIA Museum Shop at 810.237.7329.

2019 Commissioned Print Artist

Joseph Drapell

Each year, the Flint Print Club commissions an artist to produce a print to augment both the FIA’s collection and the pursuit of personal collecting. The Club is limited to 100 members in good standing at the Family level or above. Flint Print Club dues are $250 annually, which provides each participating member with a selected print and related programs.

The FIA is very excited to announce that Joseph Drapell has been chosen for the 2019 commissioned print. Born in Prague, Drapell has resided in Canada since leaving Europe in 1965. Since then, he has exhibited in more than 150 solo and group exhibitions and landed in over 50 major collections, including the Guggenheim Museum, the Museum of Modern Art, and The British Museum, London.

In Drapell’s early paintings, we can see the influences of Color Field painters Morris Louis and Kenneth Noland, who covered large canvases with vibrant colors in the shape of circles, chevrons and stripes. While his current works continue to include vast fields of color, a strong textural element was introduced in 1983. He began using a customized tool resembling a comb with curved teeth to drag through layers of thick acrylic gel overtop the ground of colored canvas. The corduroy-like textured lines would become a recurring feature in his paintings—even to this day—and play a major role in the compositions of his prints. Texture is naturally absent on the flat surface of ink on paper but the line work remains prominent, inspired by medieval engravings and the crosshatching of intricate lines on bank notes. Nonetheless, while the lines give his prints a sense of life, making your eyes move to every edge of the paper, Drapell never abandons those early influences of Color Field painting, making sure color and shape remain the star attraction.

You can learn more about the artist and his work on his website at drapell.com.

For more information about joining the Flint Print Club, please contact Valarie Bailie at 810.234.1695 or via email at vbailie@flintarts.org.

JOSEPH DRAPELL, CANADIAN, BORN CZECH REPUBLIC, 1940. ELECTRONS, 2019. DIGITAL PRINT. 22 X 31 INCHES.

7th Flint Print Fair

November 23 • 10:00a–5:00p

November 24 • 1:00p–5:00p

Isabel Hall

Free and open to the public, the 7th Flint Print Fair features several print dealers presenting a wide range of prints and drawings. This year focuses heavily on contemporary printmaking, with works ranging in price from $500 to several thousand dollars. This is an ideal opportunity for novice collectors to start a collection and for connoisseurs to add works to existing collections.

Printmaking Demonstration

November 23 • 1:00p–3:00p

Lobby & Art School

Watch FIA Art School Instructor Emily Legleitner demonstrate the processes of printmaking in the lobby. Pop in to the Art School studios for a “Make-and-Take” relief print using a stamp-printing technique.

Guided Tour

November 23 • 3:00p

Graphics Gallery

Take a tour with FIA Curator Tracee Glab and view an exhibition of 20th-century prints by European and American artists, including Karel Appel, Jim Dine, Ruth Weisberg, and Adja Yunkers. These prints are highlights from the recent gift of Ann Arbor-based collectors Myron and Barbara Ruth Levine. As collectors, Myron and Barbara (“Mike and Bobbie”) were unified in their tastes, acquiring works that they both liked and had expressive meaning for them. They were drawn early on to collect prints, especially those of the artist movement CoBrA, a group formed in 1948 by artists from Copenhagen, Brussels, and Amsterdam, whose style was highly expressionistic.

Flint Print Club Members Only Preview and Reception

November 22 • 6:00p–8:00p

Isabel Hall & Lobby

Exclusive to Flint Print Club members, preview the Fair, meet the dealers, and receive the Flint Print Club’s 2019 print by Joseph Drapell.

Prior to the event, FIA Executive Director John Henry will make selections from each dealer that he considers of exceptional interest and worthy of acquisition by the museum. “Director’s Choice” selections will be on view and available for sale throughout Print Fair weekend.x

Available Prints

Richard Bosman American, b. India, 1944 Faster Runner, 2008 Lithograph on paper 24 x 18 inches	Karsten Creightney American, b. 1976 Halftone Flower, 2015 Lithograph on paper 18 x 12 1/2 inches	April Gornik American, b. 1953 Forest Light, 2014 Lithograph on paper 20 x 27 inches
Marylyn Dintenfass American, b. 1943 Billy’s Best Sting Ray, 2011 Ultra violet etching on paper 22 x 30 inches	Sidney Hurwitz American, b. 1932 Gas Works, 2012 Aquatint on paper 18 x 13 7/8 inches	Gladys Nilsson American, b. 1940 Ragatta, 2009 Lithograph on paper 18 x 23 inches
Stanley Casselman Luminor Moment, 2016 Silkscreen on paper 30 1/4 x 22 1/2 inches Edition of 100	Catherine Kernan American, b. 1948 Tracking Changes, 2017 Woodcut on paper 16 x 10 inches	Jane Goldman American, born 1951 Audubon 15, 2018 Archival pigment print on paper 15 x 20 inches