Nohr Gallery celebrates printmaking in 'Palimpsest: A Collection of Prints'

On Sept. 17, Nohr Gallery celebrated the work of printmakers during the opening reception of "Palimpsest: A Collection of Prints." This event was an all-inclusive printmaking experience investigating the palimpsest as a tool for exploring personal narrative, while also giving guests a glimpse into some of the techniques and tools these artists used to create their prints.

"It's pretty common for people to have had experience drawing, painting and using clay at some point in their life, but fewer individuals have the pleasure of saying they have had experience in printmaking," said Cameren Hill, Nohr Gallery Manager.

The 25 professional printmakers featured in this exhibit used a range of hand printed printmaking processes, including relief, intaglio, screen printing, and lithography, with some of the prints combining multiple techniques to create the final piece. Gallery visitors do not need to understand these processes to enjoy the exhibit; not only is there a giant definition of "Palimpsest" written on the back wall of the gallery, but there are also resources to help viewers at all levels of curiosity to better appreciate printmaking.

"When we hosted a print collection last year, people were very impressed with the work, but we received several questions about what printmaking is or what the media used on the tags meant," said Hill. "With this exhibit, we peeled back some of the layers and made sure this experience offered something for guests at all levels of experience with printmaking - from no experience to professional."

Framed descriptions relate the four common printmaking techniques to peoples' everyday lives, including a nod crediting the iconic look of money to the intaglio printmaking process known as etching. A line of pedestals also presents the steps and several of the tools used by UW-Platteville Art Lecturer Jacob Bautista from the Department of Performing and Visual Arts to create his intaglio and screenprint piece "Power Lines." Each pedestal describes a "step" of the process and provides guests additional insight into how intensive the printmaking process can be.

"The amount of time and care a printmaker puts into every print is precious and the details in these prints are incredible," said Hill. "We've already had several guests have an 'aha moment' when they start to realize just how much work really goes into making a single print. If you take some time to really enjoy the exhibit and read into it a bit, I believe a person can really learn something from this experience."

The Harry and Laura Nohr Gallery offers access to high quality cultural and educational opportunities in the visual arts, free of charge, to the students, faculty and staff of UW-Platteville and the people of Platteville and the southwestern Wisconsin region. Nohr Gallery is located in the lower level of Ullsvik Hall on the UW-Platteville main campus.

"Palimpsest: A Collection of Prints" is open to the public most weekdays, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. until Oct. 29, 2024.