Graphic print exhibition to open at Anderson Gallery

“Martha Jackson Graphics,” a new exhibition of prints from UB’s modern graphics collection, will be on view in the UB Anderson Gallery May 2 through Aug. 16.

It will open with a reception from 6-8 p.m. May 2 in the gallery, located on Martha Jackson Place, off Englewood Avenue near the South Campus. Gallery hours are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday, and 1-5 p.m. on Sunday,

Co-curated by Robert Scalise, assistant director of collections and exhibitions, and Sandra Olsen, director of the UB Art Galleries, “Martha Jackson Graphics” features 26 prints that highlight the depth of UB’s collection, presenting complete portfolios and series of prints. The exhibition includes a recent donation from the David Anderson Charitable Remainder Trust that more than doubled the size of the university’s modern graphics collection with prints from the Martha Jackson and David Anderson collections.

The Martha Jackson Gallery in New York City was one of the first galleries to exhibit and sell printed art by the modern artists she represented, Olsen says, adding that Jackson’s first exhibition of prints was “Ten Lithographs,” 1959, by the Catalonian artist Antoni Tàpies, whose “Suite Catalana,” 1972, is part of the UB exhibition.

By 1960, Jackson had dedicated a separate gallery space for printed art that was managed by her son, David Anderson, and named the David Anderson Gallery, she adds. Almost simultaneously, Anderson opened the Galerie Anderson-Mayer in Paris, which between 1961 and 1967 introduced prints and other artworks by American artists to the European art market.

Among the prints on exhibit at UB will be the “Crash” series, 1960-61, by Jim Dine, and “Alternative Black and White,” 1970, by Paul Jenkins, as well as early and rare examples of prints by Karel Appel, Claire Falkenstein, John Hultberg, Joan Mitchell and Julian Stanczak.

Some of the work in the exhibition shows the artists’ experimentation in printmaking, Olsen says. Examples include four of the same images printed in different colors by Lester Johnson; two works printed from the same plates by Sam Francis — one with black, silver and gray ink, and one other in full color; and “Pears” by William Scott, a beautiful set of printed images with subtle alterations.

Also on display throughout the second floor of the gallery, beginning on May 2, are “Transmaterial,” curated by Alicia Marván, graduate curatorial assistant for the UB Art Galleries; “Our Own Devices: Exploring the Tools of ‘Cravens World,’” curated by students in the UB Anthropology and Critical Museum Studies programs; and “These Fragile Truths,” Tricia Butski’s MFA thesis presentation.

These exhibitions also will open with receptions from 6-8 p.m. on May 2.

“Transmaterial” showcases recent work by artists, designers and architects currently living and working in Buffalo, and devoted to the experimental and innovative use of materials. Inspired by the “Transmaterial” books written by Blaine Brownell, the exhibition presents new approaches to material culture from the point of view of various creative disciplines and their intersections.

Artists include Jozef Bajus, Christina Barmosz, Nicholas Bruscia and Christopher Romano, Jonathan Casey, Kate Gaudy, Jordan Geiger, Liz Lessner and Carlie Todoro-Rickus.

“Our Own Devices” presents a variety of tools from the Anderson Gallery’s “Cravens’ World” exhibition. Exploring what a tool can be — whether in a traditional sense or more abstractly — this exhibit analyzes humanity as a tool-using species.

In her thesis presentation, “These Fragile Truths,” Tricia Butski explores the limitations and aesthetics of human memory through portraiture. She distorts these recollections through her process, and as a result, seeks out meaning through ideas of longing, nostalgia and partiality.