Editions at West Chelsea Contemporary

Feb 28

Editions celebrates over two dozen modern and contemporary artists creating limited edition fine art prints and multiples.

**Cey Adams and Janette Beckman’s photograph of Keith Haring, print by Gary Lichtenstein**

Editions, a process-driven exhibition that explores the many ways in which editions are created, from screenprinting and lithography to lenticulars and photography, opens Saturday, March 4, with an artist talk at West Chelsea Contemporary (WCC), 231 10th Ave.

Speaking at the March 4 opening will be pioneering graffiti writer John ‘CRASH’ Matos, who has created over 75 silkscreen prints throughout the course of his 40-year career. A selection of his prints featured in Editions highlight the artist’s stylistic development through the medium.

The exhibition emphasizes technique and medium, rather than subject matter, to juxtapose works of various processes. Through this exhibition, WCC furthers its “art for all” mission by encouraging its audience to consider process and art making techniques first, as a means of exploring their visual impact in new ways.

Art prints and multiples – from silkscreen and etching to photography and lenticulars – afford artists a new avenue for pushing the boundaries of their stylistic practice. In doing so, these artists produce work that not only complements their larger oeuvre, but opens up their market to a larger base ofcollectors.

**The Connor Brothers Why Fit in When You Were Born To Stand Out**

One of the key techniques on display in Editions is screen printing (also referred to as silkscreen): the most omnipresent printing technique today, favored for its accessibility and graphic style.

**Bob Gruen, John Lennon, NYC, 1974, print by Gary Lichtenstein**

WCC’s master printer Gary Lichtenstein has worked with numerous artists from rock and roll photographer Bob Gruen to pop art icon Robert Indiana, using the silkscreen process to translate the artist's initial design or photograph into a distinct new work of art.

Contemporary artists The Connor Brothers explore the use of screenprinting alongside additional media to create texturally rich works on paper featuring pin-up style portraits of women with blocks of solid color and deadpan snippets of text.

Editions will also display lithography; considered the most difficult method to learn and master, this mode allows for a much wider range of marks and areas of tone than possible with earlier printmaking methods. These tonalities are evident in the smooth gradients of Zhang Xiaogang’s portraits and in the shadows of Yue Minjun’s figures.

The show will feature lithographs by living-legend JasperJohns, who creates multicolored surrealist and abstract scenes, andLisa Yuskavage,who uses ink to be fully transparent, resulting in a blending of colors.

The etching technique will be featured through a selection of hand-colored etchings by the iconic surrealist Salvador Dalí from The Argillet Collection.

**Robert Indiana, Love Is God, 2014, print by Gary Lichtenstein**

The show also features a retrospective look at WCC’s publishing arm WCC Editions. Since its conception two years ago WCC Editions has published projects with artists from legendary street artists Cey Adams, Al Diaz, Shepard Fairey and Ron English to emerging contemporary artists Matthew Trujillo and Duel Diagnosis. Each of these publishing projects are a result of close collaboration between the respective artist and printer Lichtenstein, who has mastered the art of silkscreen editions and created innovative techniques over the course of his remarkable 45-year career.

Cey Adams, Pan Am, 2021, print by Gary Lichtenstein

Transitioning to more modern interpretations of printmaking, the show will showcase photographs by Sofia Cianciulli and Vee Speers,whose contemporary portraits evoke emotion and blur the lines between fantasy and reality; American artists Richard Misrach and E.V. Day, who transform the natural world into abstract compositions; andHenry Chalfant and JR, who capture and memorializean ephemeral discipline.

WCC will also present 3D lenticular artworks by British artist Gary James McQueen, who branched out from the shadow of his late uncle, Alexander McQueen, to create his own brand where he is forging a new path across media. His 3D, lenticular artworks on display at WCC reinvigorate prints with dimensionality, and explore innovative modes of expression and communication for the modern age.

Editions will be open to the public and can be viewed at WCC from March 4 through April 2. For more information, please visithttps://wcc.art or to book an appointment please contact sales@wcc.art.