MAPC Juried Members Exhibition

MAPC Juried Members Exhibition

Rotunda Gallery
Nebraska Union
September 20 - October 15, 2004

Juror's Statement:

In my experience of jurying exhibitions, this one had an unusually large percentage of exceptional works. That indicates to me the wide respect for both MAPC and Karen Kunc's printmaking program. In regard to the health of printmaking in the U.S., I am encouraged by the overall strength of the submissions, and especially by the way so many of the artists demonstrate awareness of the broader art world. This is consistent with what we see among professional artists who visit Flatbed; they tend to be artists first and printmakers second. I do uphold the preservation and advancement of the "craft," but I applaud the increasing expansiveness and inclusiveness that now characterize so many artists in all media.

My criteria for selecting the works is unapologetically intuitive. I trusted my eye to select works that are compelling for ME. Skill, thoughtfulness, exploitation of the medium, and clarity of both form and content were all basic requirements. But it had to move me in some genuine way. I tried to avoid works that were essentially academic exercises, even if competent, works that were excessively preachy, images that were vacuously formalistic, and, those that looked trendy. My mantra was "surprise me."

If art is a barometer of culture, several recurring themes may give us a reading of our societal atmosphere at present. There was a lot of psychologically-inflected work, and images full of deep feeling. Mystery and the dark side of human consciousness and behavior kept reappearing. Surrealism seemed to be making a comeback. These latter two traits may be related, in the way that they were among artists just after World War I. 9/ll and the Afghanistan and Iraqi wars have had a similarly powerful impact upon our cultural soul. Yet, few artists addressed current affairs or politics overtly. For example, there was not a single twin-tower or battle image. Quite a number artists did deal with ecological themes.

Choosing the award recipients was my most difficult task, because there were so many who deserved special recognition. There, I had to summon all of the objective factors, and then let my intuition weigh in heavily for the final call. Every artist in the exhibition should feel very proud of their inclusion in it. I am honored to have played my role.

Mark L. Smith, PhD
Flatbed Press
Austin, Texas

Diyan Achjadi, Baltimore, MD
Jennifer C. Anderson, Terre Haute, IN
Wayne M. Anderson, Wayne, NE
Janet Ballweg, Bowling Green, OH
Michael Barnes, Sycamore, IL
Jennifer Bauer, Grand Junction, CO
Edward Bernstein, Bloomington, IN
Mary Bookwalter, Crete, IL
Kate Brooke, Lincoln, NE
Susan Goethel Campbell, Detroit, MI
Phyllis Costello, Butler, KY
Jean A. Dibble, South Bend, IN
Justin Diggle, Salt Lake City, UT
Stefanie Dykes, Salt Lake City, UT
Pierre Martin Egide, Serbrooke, Quebec
Daniel Falco, DeKalb, IL
Paul Falcone, Maryville, MO
John C. Gall, Jamestown, NC
Kyle Garrett, Arlington, TX
Lari R. Gibbons, Denton, TX
Ben Herrera, Irving, TX
Jonathon Higgins, Bloomington, IL
Stephanie Hunder, St. Paul, MN
Yuji Hiratsuka, Corvallis, OR
Mirka Hokkanen, Irving, TX
Jayne Reid Jackson, Madison, WI
Abner Jonas, Athens, OH
Kathleen Ristinen-Jonas, Athens, OH
Janet L.H. Marcavage, Tacoma, WA
Peter Leone McCormick, San Francisco, CA
Katherine McGinn, Edinboro, PA
Mary McKane, Chicago, IL
Catherine Meier, Lincoln, NE
Wayne Miyamoto, Hilo, HI
Toni Mosley, Eggertsville, NY
Karl Nelson, Muncie, IN
Gail D. Panske,Oskosh, WI
Anna Marie Pavlik, Austin, TX
Mark Ritchie, Laramie, WY
Dan Rule, DeKalb, IL
Masha Schweitzer, Los Angeles, CA
Mark Snyder, Hamden, CT
Francisco Souto, Lincoln, NE
Neil Taylor, Bloomington, IN
Caroline Thorington, Bethesda, MD
Adrian Tio, DeKalb, IL
Dan Welden, Sag Harbor, NY
Sang-Mi Yoo, Champaign, IL

Recognition Awards sponsored by:

Frameworks, Inc.
John and Nancy Wiederspan
Images II
Nebraska Book Store
University of Nebraska Press
Graphic Chemical & Ink
Takach Press
McClain's
Edward C. Lyons Co.