AIR Series IV: Andre Junget
Updated: 19 hours ago
Translating New Haven's landmarks through print
On April 27, 2024, Milestone Graphics presented "AIR Series IV: Andre Junget" at AIR/Proptogroup in New Haven. The show grew out of a multi-week residency Junget spent working alongside us in the studio that March and April. The series of prints that resulted took a close look at New Haven and it's iconic landmarks.
Junget works in fine architectural drawing and illustration, and for this residency he turned his attention to the buildings and spaces that define New Haven and Yale University. His focus on architecture, machines and industrial spaces tied everything together in the show, new work and old alike.
A few weeks in the studio
Junget spent multiple weeks at Milestone producing new editions for the exhibition, working directly with Master Printer Irene Michnicki through each stage of proofing and printing. That kind of extended, hands-on collaboration is what makes the experience of a residency important: the artist works through every step of the process in the studio, guiding all aesthetic and conceptual decisions, while the printer works to make the vision come to life through their technical skillset and a deep knowledge of printmaking.
Check out the process video below that was a part of the exhibition itself. It informed the viewers about what it takes to make the prints that were hung on the wall right next to it.
The full range of work
The finished exhibition paired those new editions with a wider survey of Junget's practice. Drawings hung next to past lithographs he'd printed at Milestone in earlier years. Pastels and scratchboard work filled out the range of technique, and portraits of Junget himself, shot by photographer friend Erin Braden, gave the room a personal anchor among the architectural subjects. These portraits were hung within a lace curtain hallway that was central to the exhibition space. Pastel and photographic self-portraiture was newer to Andre at that time, and it allowed him to explore a deeply personal subject matter: the experience of shame and hiding in plain sight.
Irene Michnicki, Milestone's owner and master printer, curated and planned the show from that body of work:
"This exhibition celebrated Junget's expansive skillset in drawing and illustration while debuting his new exploration of pastels and photographic portraits approaching deeply personal subject matter. The AIR exhibition space itself was incredible for every aspect of the work gathered within it."
The New Haven based venue
AIR/Proptogroup describes its work as "building the world's largest living archive of live performances and physical artworks coexisting within immersive events". That framing helped shape the exhibition. Junget's architectural drawings weren't hung in a conventional white-box gallery; they sat inside a space built around performance and layered experience, which gave the New Haven landmarks in his work a different kind of company than they'd get in a typical art exhibition.
Andre Junget, andrejunget.com
AIR at Proptogroup, Instagram @artistinrotation
Another installation of AIR
In November of 2023, 6 months before this show, Milestone also put together AIR Series II: Past to Present, an exhibition built around the printmaking process, not just its finished work. Pulling from Milestone's archive and featuring physical materials, tools and press that viewers could interact with, the opening created an educational and immersive experience that went beyond the prints on the wall. Click the link below to learn more about AIR Series II: Past to Present.
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