[280] MTSU's Todd Hall Art Gallery Welcomes 'Prints' Exhibit Feb. 16

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Jan. 29, 2010
EDITORIAL CONTACT: Lisa L. Rollins, 615-898-2919, or lrollins@mtsu.edu

MTSU’s TODD HALL ART GALLERY WELCOMES ‘PRINTS’ EXHIBIT FEB. 16
Public Invited to Free Feb. 15 Reception in Honor of Collector-Acquired Display

(MURFREESBORO)—The Todd Hall Art Gallery in the Department of Art at MTSU will present “PRINTS: Through the Collector’s Eyes,” an exhibition that brings together a wide variety of original prints, beginning Feb. 16 through March 4.
An opening reception for the show will be held one day prior to its official opening, 6-8 p.m. Feb. 15, in the campus-based gallery. The public is encouraged and invited to attend this free event.
Among the works that will be displayed as part of “PRINTS: Through the Collector’s Eyes” are wood engravings, etchings, lithographs and screen prints, all of which primarily from collectors in the middle Tennessee area.
"The common theme is that they have been acquired by individuals, rather than by museum curators,” observed exhibit curator Christie Nuell, MTSU art professor. “Included (in the exhibit) are prints from the 17th to the 21st centuries, with work by famous artists as well as those who are less well known.”
Several of the artists are known primarily for work in other media, Nuell added, including Rembrandt, Renoir, Manet, Warhol, Christo, Wesselman and Red Grooms.
“Whereas a painting is a unique piece of art, an original print is usually part of an edition, and so there are a finite number of identical copies,” she explained. “(But) with printmaking, the artist creates the image, which is then inked and printed over and over to produce a number of proofs which form the edition.
“Prints are not the same as reproductions, which are photographic copies of work in another medium,” Nuell continued. “Prints by famous artists are generally much more affordable than their paintings, and the print collector can benefit from this and build up a collection which includes artists of significance.”
The relationship of printmaking to commercial printing has a rich history, exhibit organizers reported. Further, among the works that will be included in this exhibition are a 17th century map by John Speed of the Isle of Man, which is based on an oral description of the island, as well as prints by Thomas Bewick and Robert Indiana that were created to be included in books.
Two of the Bewick prints have been taken out of books, and the careful observer will see telltale signs of the printing on the reverse side of the paper, Nuell said.
Eric Snyder, gallery liaison, said artists such as Seymour Haden, Geoffrey Wedgwood and John Taylor Arms and Mark Hosford are printmakers first and foremost.
“They are masters of the print medium,” he said, “and their ability to communicate through their deep understanding and love of printmaking is obvious.”
Regarding the upcoming exhibit, “Each artist brings to the medium the concerns of his or her age,” Nuell noted. “For example, in ‘The New World Order’ we see Sue Coe’s concern for humanity as the Gulf War unfolds … (while) Andy Warhol and Rembrandt continue their exploration of portraiture.

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“Pop Artists Wesselmann and Indiana embody the atmosphere of the 1960s and 1970s,” she described, “and Red Grooms and Wayne White recall humor and comic book imagery. And other artists show us the beauty apparent in city scenes and landscapes that might otherwise be taken for granted.
The exhibit is free and open to the public. The gallery is open 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday–Thursday and 9 a.m.-noon on Fridays, closing only on university and public holidays.
For more information or directions to the gallery, please call Snyder at 615-898-5653.

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• ATTENTION, MEDIA: To request an interview with exhibit curator Nuell or secure a pdf file of postcard art created for this exhibit, please contact Lisa L. Rollins in the Office of News and Public Affairs at lrollins@mtsu.edu or by calling 615-898-2919


With three Nobel Prize winners among its alumni and former faculty, Middle Tennessee State University confers master’s degrees in 10 areas, the Specialist in Education degree, the Doctor of Arts degree and the Doctor of Philosophy degree. MTSU is ranked among the top 100 public universities in the nation in the Forbes “America’s Best Colleges” 2009 survey.