Magnolia at Pence Gallery in Davis, CA

William Wiley - Buddy Dharma at your Surface, 2005
Mixed media drypoint, 83 x 37.25 in.
A unique and thoughtfully curated show entitled "Past Traces" opens on January 26 at Pence Gallery in Davis, CA. The show is entirely comprised of works from Magnolia Editions' twenty years of printmaking:

Printmaking is the physical act of layering visual information. Artists have utilized this quality of the print as a metaphor for the layering of personal and cultural memories that inform their own work, often through art historical allusions. Past Traces explores this subject through prints produced at Magnolia Editions, an established printmaking studio in Oakland, that has played a vital role in collaborating with artists for two decades. Work by artists Robert Arneson, William T. Wiley, Enrique Chagoya, Bruce Conner, Hung Liu, among others, is included.

The show includes a seldom-seen work by William Wiley, Buddy Dharma at your Surface, a seven-foot-tall mixed media drypoint etching; several of Enrique Chagoya's latest editions, including New Illegal Alien's Guide to Critical Theory, a combination of print and painting on multiple layers of plexiglas and amate paper; four editions by Bruce Conner; and many more.

"Past Traces," sponsored by Far Western Anthropological Research Group, runs January 26 – March 5, 2010; there will be a reception on February 12, from 7-9 PM.

Pence Gallery website

Tapestries at RIS

Tapestry editions by Donald and Era Farnsworth and Robert Kushner at RIS, a new restaurant from chef Ris Lacoste in Washington, DC (photos by BizBash).

Hung Liu reviewed in Denver Post

Hung Liu - Candles, 2009; oil on canvas, 80 x 96 in.
Kyle MacMillan writes enthusiastically about Hung Liu's recent show "Apsaras" at the Fort Collins Museum of Contemporary Art in this Denver Post review, making the case for Liu's work as a modern continuation of the history painting tradition.

William Wiley in WSJ

William T. Wiley, Kali-fornia Dreamin, 2006/2007; Etching w/ watercolor on 40 buttons with leatherbound box, 11 x 17 x 1.2 in. Edition of 20
Sidney Lawrence reviews William T. Wiley's current exhibition at the Smithsonian Museum of American Art, "What's It All Mean: William T. Wiley In Retrospect," in the Dec. 9 Wall Street Journal (online edition). Lawrence is effusive about Wiley's wit, style, and significance:

...Mr. Wiley's work is unlike any other in recent art, a visual analog to the stream-of-consciousness strain in 20th-century literature. Likening Mr. Wiley to Virginia Woolf or James Joyce is dicey, of course, but his swirling cornucopias of images, words and associations are every bit as intoxicating, operating beyond their medium, in the subconscious. He is less a contemporary artist than a national treasure.

"What's It All Mean" travels next to the Berkeley Art Museum, where it will open in the spring of 2010; the show includes Kali-fornia Dreamin, Wiley's 2006/2007 edition of etching and watercolor buttons inside a handmade leatherbound box, published by Magnolia Editions.

Magnolia at Brand66 Design Blog

Brand66 is a blog from design guru Michael Rylander, whose company Rylander Design has an impressive roster of clients including Apple, BMW, PBS, and NeXT, to name only a few.

We were thrilled to discover that a fellow with such obvious visual acumen and taste is a fan of Magnolia Editions tapestries! Check out his recent post about Don Farnsworth and the Magnolia tapestry method.

Newsletter No. 19, Winter 2009

Featuring new editions from Hung Liu, Squeak Carnwath, Deborah Oropallo, Enrique Chagoya, Alan Magee, William T. Wiley, Richard Wagener, and more.

Available to read or download at our Newsletters page:

Darwin's Origin of Species 150th anniversary

Donald Farnsworth - Origin: Specimens IV, pt. 2, 2007
Pigmented inkjet on rag paper, 30.75 x 26.5 in. Edition of 24
Today is the 150th anniversary of the publication of Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species. First issued on November 24, 1859, Origin laid much of the foundation for subsequent advances in the life sciences, especially evolutionary biology.

In these images from Donald Farnsworth's Origin: Specimens series, specimens selected from Farnsworth's collection and the California Academy of Sciences are depicted atop entire chapters of Darwin's treatise (click any image to see the full series):

Donald Farnsworth - Origin: Specimens VII, pt. 1, 2007
Pigmented inkjet on rag paper, 30.75 x 26.5 in. Edition of 24

Donald Farnsworth - Origin: Specimens II, 2007
Pigmented inkjet on rag paper, 30.75 x 26.5 in. Edition of 24