THE COMPOUND GALLERY & STUDIOS » Upcoming

The Art of Letterpress (February 11th-March 25th, 2012)

the compound — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 07:00:54 +0000

The Art of LetterPress

(February 11th-March 25th, 2012)

Opening Reception: Saturday, February 11th, 6-9pm
Closing Tea: Sunday, March 25th, 3-6pm

Featuring work by: Lisa Berman, Matt Chase, Tim Fite, Rachel Foster, Claire Kessler-Bradner, Brian Kring, Mary Laird, Studio Lorzig, Amos Paul Kennedy Jr., Rebecca Peters, Lisa Rappaport, Two Fine Chaps, and more.

Co-curated with Rebecca Peters

The Compound Gallery in Oakland, CA is pleased to present The Art of Letterpress, an exhibition celebrating the bygone era of letterpress printing. A visual panegyric in honor of this distinctive form of artistry, The Art of Letterpress features some of the finest letterpress artists in the Bay Area and beyond. Today, we text, email, and print at the touch of a button, making it easy to forget how labor intensive it was to simply make a sentence and reproduce it multiple times. In an increasing digital age, people long for something that is tangible and tactile—analog. The characteristic texture, ink, and surface of letterpressed text declares it an antiquated champion of typography.

Typography was once used to express both language and visual imagery, and the process involved in producing prints involved both craft and artistry. This exhibition features the work of artists who work in letterpress using both traditional type setting and modern polymer and magnesium plates, and was co-curated with exceptional Bay Area letterpress artist, Rebecca Peters. Although the Bay Area is home to a lively, active scene, which promotes the revival of letterpress printing, letterpress printing is often overlooked as a form of fine art.

Renowned letterpress artist Amos Paul Kennedy Jr. lives and works in Alabama and is known for his bold, boundry pushing prints. Kennedy has been commissioned by CB2 to create a series of limited edition letterpress prints for Gay Pride Month, and he is the feature of a recent documentary titled Proceed and Be Bold! Lisa Rappoport is a Bay Area artist who publishes poetry broadsides and artists’ books and has produced a series of broadsides by the poets who teach at the Squaw Valley Community of Writers; she has also printed poetry broadsides for Lawrence Ferlinghetti and City Lights Books, Lyric Poetry Review, and many others. Tim Fite is a Brooklyn artist best known for his original music. Esquire Magazine called him, “one of rock ‘n’ roll’s most subversive renaissance men,” but he is also an amazing visual artist. His letterpress printed linocuts are playful, telling images of love and strife. In addition to a display of various letterpress prints, bins of small prints, books, and broadsides, this exhibition will feature timeworn letterpress paraphernalia, ephemera, equipment, and more.

LETTERPRESS WORKSHOP!

Our first workshop sold out. New workshop scheduled for March 11th, 1-5pm. Learn basic letterpress skills on our 1925 Chandler and Price letterpress. Taught by Rebecca Peters. Special Rate in celebration of our Art of Letterpress show! Price of workshop INCLUDES material fee. Class size is limited to 7, so please register early to get a spot. Each student will also be able to take home 10 letterpress cards made in class. Delicious Numi Tea and light snacks will be provided. Click the link below to purchase tickets.

TYPEFACE the Movie Screening

Free Screening for our Art Movie Night on Thursday, February 23rd, 2012, 9pm

In a time when people can carry computers in their pockets and watch TV while walking down the street, Typeface dares to explore the twilight of an analog craft that is freshly inspiring artists in a digital age. The Hamilton Wood Type Museum in Two Rivers, WI personifies cultural preservation, rural re-birth and the lineage of American graphic design. At Hamilton, international artisans meet retired craftsmen and together navigate the convergence of modern design and traditional technique.

Amos Paul Kennedy Jr. Print

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Amos Paul Kennedy Jr. Print

Buy American: Clare Szydlowski (March 31st- May 6th, 2012)

the compound — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 07:00:22 +0000

Buy American

by Clare Szydlowski

(March 31st-May 6th, 2012)

Opening Reception: Saturday, March 31st, 6-9pm
Closing Tea & Artist Talk: Sunday, May 6th, 3-6pm (Talk at 4pm)

CLOSED May 2012

the compound — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 06:41:02 +0000

We are on Holiday this May…

see you in June

Crystal Morey (June 9th-July 15th, 2012)

the compound — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 06:58:16 +0000

Solo exhibition by Crystal Morey

(June 9th-July 15th, 2012)

Opening Reception: Saturday, June 9th, 6-9pm
Closing Tea & Artist Talk: July 15th, 3-6pm (talk at 4pm)

The Artist as Storyteller (July 21st-August 19th, 2012)

the compound — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 21:07:44 +0000

The Artist as Storyteller

(July 21st-August 19th, 2012)

Opening Reception: Saturday, July 21st, 6-9pm
Closing Tea: Sunday, August 19th, 3-6pm

Featuring: Pamela Matsuda-Dunn, Matthew Pugh, Alison Tharp, John Watson, and Michelle Wilson.
Curated by Alison O.K. Frost

This group show presents the artist as storyteller, and includes multi-panel pieces that work sequentially to create a narrative. Ordering pictures and words to tell a story is an impulse that appears throughout history. Egyptian hieroglyphics were created directly on walls, often depicting daily life, while pre-Columbian Mayan and Mixtec cultures created historical picture manuscripts (pictoral scenes with glyphs) on deerskin. The ancient Greeks used vases and friezes to convey myths. Japanese scrolls allowed stories to literally unroll in picture form in the 11th century, as did English tapestries such as the Bayeux, woven in the 1070s, which depicted the Norman conquest of England.

In contemporary culture, the most common picture-and-word storytelling is found in movies and television, followed by comic books and graphic novels. These forms have been codified over the last century, so that narrative traditions exist—from the 3-act film to talk balloons in comic strips. The artists presented in this show walk the line between fine art and visual storytelling.

This show will be a unique and engaging collection of stories that are sequentially narrated in visual. The pieces allow the viewer the satisfaction of completion—a full story is presented, rather than hinted at as often happens in narrative visual art. However, as the viewer is drawn in to each narrative, they are also drawn into the artist’s unique way of telling the story, rather than a cultural normative system.

Engagements in Imagination: Wilfred Satty (August 25th-September 30th, 2012)

the compound — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 07:03:31 +0000

Engagements in Imagination:

work by Wilfred Satty

(August 25th-September 30th)

Opening Reception: Saturday, August 25th, 6-9pm
Closing Tea: Sunday, September 30th, 3-6pm

Barbara Holmes (October 6th-November 4th, 2012)

the compound — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 07:12:44 +0000

Solo Exhibition

by Barbara Holmes

(October 6th-November 4th, 2012)

Opening Reception: Saturday, October 6th, 6-9pm
Closing Tea & Artist Talk: Sunday, November 4th, 3-6pm (talk at 4pm)

Jeanne Lorenz (November 10th-December 16th, 2012)

the compound — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 07:15:23 +0000

Solo exhibition by Jeanne Lorenz

(November 10th-December 16th)

Opening Reception: Saturday, November 10th, 6-9pm
Closing Tea & Artist Talk: Sunday, December 16th, 3-6pm (talk at 4pm)

Ben Belknap (February 2013)

the compound — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 21:33:44 +0000

Ben Belknap

Opening February 2013

Details TBA