Something for Everyone
The eclectic selection of work in the Austrian Die Kleine Galerie stand had a delightful and unmistakable Viennese air about it, with reminiscences of, if not direct references to, Kokoschka, Schiele and Klimt, as well as Picasso and Dürer. It was also rewarding to see the enthusiasm, quality of work and general level of profesionalism of the young printmakers presented by the Ibalart Gallery of Valencia, first-time participants in this edition of the Estampa fair, but destined for a lot of future success.

The Galería Luna from Tenerife (Canary Islands) showed four splendid printmakers, one of whom, Ramiro de Undabeytia, makes big colored hyper-realistic mezzotints of everyday objects which are sheer magic in the black manner.

The Biggest Piece
The most flamboyant exhibit in the fair-so big it was shown in the institutional pavillion-was a 20-meter-long series of 96 40x80 cm. abstract digital prints by Spanish artist, José Luis Alexanco, who also contributed this year's theme image to the fair. The series, divided into four groups representing the four divisions of the day, was colorful and solidly cohesive, perhaps a bit too much so, as the prints had something of a hasty boilerplate quality about them. We did feel, however, that this wholehearted acceptance of digital printmaking was very positive, especially in view of the retrograde attitude towards computer art that we are accustomed to seeing in some presumably more "advanced" countries.

A Bulgarian Etcher/Magician
Special mention must be made of the Bulgarian etcher/magician, Valentin Kovachev, longtime resident of Spain, whose beautifully-executed surrealistic visions of Spanish themes-bulls and bullfighters, Goya and Gaudi-- make him a perennial favorite at the fair. His technique is a constant source of wonderment for his fellow printmakers. Asked how he achieves the incredible intricacy and precision in his prints he replies laconically, "I started out painting battle scenes for the Bulgarian army."

We'll Be Back Next Year!
Certainly the "worst in show" prize must go to the Israeli editor who managed to slip his tawdry lithographic reproductions of works by Chagall, Modigliani, Magritte and others past the fair organizers. Everyone agreed it was the low point of the show and should have been taken down.

Despite some inevitable complaining about the direction the Estampa fair is taking ("It's so massified it's more like a May Day parade than an art fair!") exhibitors and public keep coming back for more. A last-minute survey of a dozen stands at random yielded a telling statistic: 100% of them considered they had "a successful fair" in greater or lesser degree and all said they would be back next year.

"Print Fair as Warfare, a Personal View" by Mike Booth