World Printmakers
Newsletter, No. 17 October 9, 2002

Not to Stand Idly By...
The breaking news is that, contrary to all the rules of good business practice, World Printmakers is going into politics. As Maureen says, "We can't just stand idly by..." The upshot is The Printmakers' Peace, an online anti-militarist exhibit with prints and comments from concerned artists from around the world.

The call for work for this show went out day before yesterday, we published the first contributions yesterday, and we will to continue to add prints and comments as they come in. If you're a printmaker and feel the need to make a symbolic gesture against the impending American war on Iraq, we welcome your participation. Just e-mail us a .jpg image of one of your prints and, if you like, a brief comentary. You'll be in good company.

This month's workshop interview is with Richard Steiner of the Tosai Hanga Workshop in Kyoto, Japan. Richard is refreshingly cranky and frank and you may find his comments on editions very interesting. Our new featured artist, Hao Ping, is also from the East. We were surprised and delighted by this Chinese artist's joyous and colorful woodcuts and think you may be, too. Before we leave China, permit me to call your attention to Winter Moon, a beautiful new woodcut from Shi Yi.

Goya's Always Up to Date
We're publishing the second installment of the Francisco de Goya article this month, featuring his Disasters of War series of prints. The coincidence with our current anti-war initiative is wholly coincidental. Even so, we invite you to take an even-harder look at these prints by the undisputed maestro in exposing the inevitable tragedy of military solutions. Perhaps the most remarkable thing which comes to mind in looking at this extraordinary series of prints is how little things have changed in 200 years!

Our nomadic art observer, Lauren Sedgebear, is back this month with some feverish ramblings about the seriousness and arduousness of a career in art. We may or may not agree with him, but his observations look like a good jumping-off point for a lively discussion on the subject. You are invited to post your comments on the World Printmakers Forums.

Print Week in Madrid
Two major printmaking events coincide in Madrid at the beginning of November, making the Spanish capital an enticing destination for print people. Besides the big, week-long annual Estampa print fair which opens on November 5, we now have the Calcografía* Nacional sponsoring a three-day (Nov. 5, 6, 7) international print symposium entitled Graphic Art and New Technologies. They have invited a stellar international cast to this event, including Adam Lowe from the Permaprint Workshop in London, Bruno Latour from the Centre de Sociologie de l'Innovation in Paris, Brian Cantwell Smith from Duke University and Marilyn Kushner from the Brooklyn Museum of Art, among many others. This promises to be a veritable digital fete, and the Calcografía is to be commended for the courage to lead the way into the digital wilderness.

A footnote to "good business practices:" Against a backdrop of worldwide economic crisis and the ongoing dot-com hecatomb, World Printmakers dot com has sold more than 700 prints in the month of September, most of them commissions of editions for corporate gifts. We're fiercely proud of this achievement, of our artists and of our client companies who have dared to make the first-time decision to choose gifts of fine-art prints. They'll be back for more!

See you next month.

Count your blessings!

Mike & Maureen Booth
Editors & Publishers
World Printmakers
The Worldwide Showcase for
Contemporary Fine-Art Printmakers
URL: http://www.worldprintmakers.com
Email: miguel@worldprintmakers.com