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Printmaker's Only Show at Fraser Gallery By Mark Longaker The Georgetowner February 3, 2000 page 26 "Reprinted with permission from the Georgetowner"One way to get attention is to be a young Cuban artist, known internationally, but denied an entrance visa by U.S. authorities for the first-ever showing of your work in this country. Such was the fate of Niurka Inurrieta, whose etchings arrived at the Fraser Gallery without her - smuggled into the U.S. in the pants pockets of friends. Small, contrastfully textured, colored prints on handmade paper, they show bizarre zoomorphic forms, like fish sprouting smooth femenine legs. They join woodcuts, linocuts, intaglio etchings and other hand-made prints from around the world in a diverse portrait of contemporary realism at this Georgetown gallery Another way to fame - slower but perhaps more lasting - is to apply impeccable technique perseverantly to universal images of human beauty, frailty and folly. The intaglio etchings of Grant Silverstein, who lives in rural Mansfield, Pa. do this so exquisitely that they bear comparison to Renaissance and Baroque masterpieces, which the 47-year-old, self-taught artist studied to learn his craft. His detailed studies of the human figure recall those of Albretch Durer, while his ironic tableaux on human folly evoke William Hogarth's scathing social commentaries, updated to contemporary settings. He achieves Rembrandt-like chiaroscuro on plates that take between 100-150 hours each to make, selling some of the limited edition prints for under $100. Quirky linocuts by a lady named Foust, huge woodcuts by David Brunner and surrealistic etchings by James Skavarch help make the nine-person show a varied feast. © Copyright 2000 The Georgetowner |
