Wabash College Art Department will open its next exhibit—Revolución!: Estampas De La Revolución Mexicana Prints and Justseeds Artists’ Cooperative Selected Prints—this Friday with a public reception at 4:30 p.m. in the Eric Dean Gallery.
This powerful exhibit features a portfolio of linocut prints, Estampas De La Revolución Mexicana, which narrates the events of Mexico’s 1910 Revolution. Alongside these historical works, contemporary relief and screen-prints highlighting labor, immigrant, and human rights bring the struggle for social justice into the present.
The portfolio came from the People’s Graphic Workshop, a collective founded in 1937. Sixteen Mexican artists contributed a total of 85 prints that were acquired by Michael and Kathy Atwell, who donated them to the Modern Languages Department at Wabash College in 2013.
The Justseeds Artists’ Cooperative was founded by Josh MacPhee in 1998 as a geographically widespread group of artist-activists who make art for political and social change. The organization now includes 24 artists throughout North America, 10 of whom are represented in this show. Co-curators Laura Conners and Idaho State University Assistant Professor Andrea Ferber purchased select prints from Justseeds for this exhibit. The prints are now part of the Wabash College Permanent Collection of Contemporary Art.
Professor Ferber will visit the campus from January 22 to 24 as a visiting scholar with sponsorship from the McGregor Fund. In addition to the gallery installation and classroom visits, Dr. Ferber will present a public talk—“Incite: Printmaking and Political Activism”—on Thursday, January 22, at 12:10 p.m. in Korb Classroom in the Fine Arts Center.
Modern Languages Department translated bilingual didactic text in English and Spanish for the exhibition. In addition, a short film by three Wabash College senior Spanish majors—Joe Sukup, Kevin Wynder, and Khuong (Max) Nguyen—will feature their Mexican revolution research and highlight the entire portfolio of the Mexican prints.
The Eric Dean Gallery is located on the south end of the Fine Arts Center. Gallery hours are Monday through Friday from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. and on Saturday from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. The exhibit is free and open to the public and is handicap accessible.