AIR Series II: Milestone Graphics - Past to Present
Before Andre Junget's residency became AIR Series IV, there was AIR Series II. On November 11, 2023, Milestone Graphics took over AIR/Proptogroup in New Haven for an evening built around the printmaking process, not just its finished work.
Irene Michnicki, Milestone's Master Printer, curated the show from the studio's own archive, pulling lithographs, etchings, and woodcuts that spanned over 45 years of history. A long table in the middle of the room held the tools and materials behind the processes used: a small lithography stone, litho crayons, a copper plate, linoleum, a wood block and carving tools, all available for visitors to try.
Visitors drew directly on the litho stone, handled the copper, linoleum and wood and read about each process one by one. This allowed viewers to relate the process of making to each print they saw on the walls.
A set of informational posters were also placed around the room. They covered what an original print is and how it differs from a reproduction and how collaborative printmaking splits the work between an artist's vision and a printer's technical skill. Each poster, designed by Michnicki, paired a short explanation with a hand-drawn illustration.
Milestone brought a physical etching press into the gallery as well, something you don't usually get to see outside the studio itself. With the press, the materials table, and the archive of prints on the walls all in the same room, visitors could follow a print from a drawn or carved surface through to inking, printing and the finished image.
This exhibition aligned with how Milestone approaches a public event of this kind. Printmaking is often inherently collaborative and technical by nature, so a wall of finished prints falls short of presenting the whole story. Placing the stone, the plates, tools and the press next to the artwork allowed viewers to see and engage in the steps a signed, numbered print normally skips over.
The same format was used again the following year for AIR Series IV, with artist Andre Junget's show of lithographs, drawings, pastels and more. A special series of New Haven related lithographs and process video were made for the occasion. To learn more about that exhibition, click the button below.
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