Shouts From The Wall
Exhibition Dates: March 25-June 25, 2010
The Leeway Foundation presents “Shouts from the Wall,” an exhibition of approximately fifty limited-edition prints, posters, and apparel, covering issues of current national and global interest created by members of Taller Tupac Amaru, an Oakland-based artist collective dedicated to the production and public distribution of political posters; members of the Philadelphia-based collective, RECLAIM: Silk Screen Production and Community Workshop; and individual local artists.
“Shouts from the Wall” draws a diverse selection of political, social, and community-based works from Favianna Rodriguez, Jesus Barraza, and Melanie Cervantes, members of Taller Tupac Amaru; Beth Pulcinella (LTA ’09, ACG ’08) co-founder of RECLAIM; and multi-disciplinary artist bex* (LTA ’09).
“We think the timing of this show is fortuitous given the buzz being generated by Philagrafika 2010 and the Southern Graphics Conference. This is clearly the year of the print in Philadelphia,” says Denise M. Brown, Leeway’s executive director. “Given our mission, we wanted to create an exhibit that pays homage to the importance of political prints and printmaking mediums to social justice movements.”
The artists featured in “Shouts” work to foster a resurgence in printmaking mediums by producing original posters, prints, and apparel for community-based grassroots organizations throughout the country. The bold graphics and direct messages in the works build upon a rich tradition of social activism, and the issues they explore are both timely and relevant. Their political posters address themes of education, incarceration, globalization, gender identity, and third world unity; and have been distributed at gatherings such as the Free Press Conference, World Social Forum, National Political Hip Hop Convention, Allied Media Conference, and in actions for Casino Free Philadelphia, Iraq Veterans Against the War, and Code Pink.
"As an artist living in the most powerful country of the world, I feel a responsibility to expose the stories that are most censored, and to make art that will help others help our planet. Art alone does not transform the world - mass movements do,” says Taller Tupac Amaru co-founder Favianna Rodriguez. “It is the unique collaborations between artists, activists, and people that forge true social change."
The exhibition opens March 25, 2010 and remains on view until June 25, 2010.
Leeway’s offices are located at 1315 Walnut Street, Suite 832 between 13th and Juniper Streets. Viewings are by appointment only. To schedule a viewing call (215) 545-4078.
WORKSHOP
A print workshop facilitated by Favianna will be held on Friday March 26, 2010 from 5:00pm to 8:00pm at Basekamp (723 Chestnut Street, 2nd floor). The workshop is offered free of charge and is open to the public on a space available basis. Advance registration is required and there is a materials fee of $10.
Register for the workshop online or by emailing rsvp@leeway.org or calling (215) 545-4078.
Workshop Description
Learn relief printmaking with linoleum blocks in this one-day workshop. Participants will get an overview of basic to advanced techniques in linoleum printing and learn all about one-color cuts, the reduction method and multi-block printing. The workshops will also cover: the basics of linoleum block preparation, image transfer onto blocks, the safe use of linoleum cutting tools, and the fundamentals of printing on proof presses. Participants will create a linocut of their choice, and with water-soluble inks, print with a variety of papers. Hand-transfer methods will be used to print blocks. Participants must bring their own speedball tips and a 5x7 image (drawing preferred rather than a photograph). All other supplies will be provided.
ARTIST TALK & RECEPTION
Favianna and Jesus will give an artist talk on Saturday March 27, 2010 from 5:30pm to 7:00pm at the Leeway office (1315 Walnut Street, Suite 832). An opening reception will follow their talk from 7:00pm to 8:00pm.
Beth Pulcinella and bex* will give an artist talk on Friday May 14, 2010 from 6:00pm to 7:30pm also at the Leeway office.
RSVP for the Artist Talk and reception by emailing rsvp@leeway.org or by calling (215) 545-4078.
PARTICIPATING ARTISTS
Beth Pulcinella
2009 Leeway Transformation Award
2008 Art and Change Grant
“Screen-printing workshops are a powerful resource for generating political propaganda, developing sustainable business and supporting cultural production.”
Beth is committed to building community arts infrastructure, using her creative energy and multifaceted skills to move resources. She has facilitated workshops and classes in partnership with the Attic Youth Center, Spiral Q Puppet Theater, Fleisher Art Memorial, Southwest Community Enrichment Center, and The Philadelphia Museum of Art. Through organizing a network of youth-run print shops and cultivating safe spaces for youth and adults, she challenges the community to explore and express their creative potential. Beth has invested much of her creative resources to unpacking what she believes is an oppressive educational model that is a cornerstone of our society. She is a co-founder of RECLAIM: Silk Screen Production and Community Workshop. Believing that through networks and collective action people can create the most impact, she doesn’t cease to pull together art, youth and social change. Beth is currently a member of Prints Link Philadelphia, a coalition of artists and teachers who will present a youth forum in 2010 in conjunction with Philagrafika’s International Print Biennial.
bex*
2009 Leeway Transformation Award
“I like the idea that these designs, while printed/painted with trans bodies in mind, can be worn by anyone… The adventures a shirt, hat, or patch might take are a part of the life of my work.”
bex* is an multi-disciplinary artist living in North Philadelphia. In 2005, bex* helped bring together a group of artists to form the queer/leftist Searing Images Collective [sic] responsible for numerous local artist-driven social change campaigns. Some of bex*’s other projects include curating and reproducing digital illustrations using spray paint stencils, stickers, patches, and clothing prints. A few of bex*’s past projects include Nicetown, a short documentary about the neighborhood of the same name; and Meditation on Intelligibility, am experimental short exploring the relationship of the body to concepts of gender. bex* also creates art and custom clothing designs for the underserved trans/queer community under the name Pleasure&Danger, vending at local and national events. bex* is interested in the viral nature of certain mediums, such as stickers, and how ‘street’ methods of distribution can be part of the art—specifically work that is related to social justice action. bex* feels drawn to capture stories of people who are marginalized and/or often misrepresented.
Favianna Rodriguez
“My work is often transformed into a tool with which to organize and inform, images of change rather than adaptability, images that become owned by the people.”
Favianna Rodriguez is an artist-entrepreneur who has helped foster resurgence in political arts both locally and internationally. Named by Utne Magazine as a “leading visionary artist and changemaker,” Rodriguez is renown for her cultural media projects dealing with social issues such as war, immigration, and globalization, as well as for her leadership in establishing innovative institutions that promote and engage new audiences in the arts. In 2001, Rodriguez co-founded the EastSide Arts Cultural Center in Oakland, California. In 2003, she helped established the Taller Tupac Amaru print studio to promote the historical practice of socially-engaged printmaking. Additionally, Rodriguez is co-founder and president of Tumis Inc., a bilingual design studio that serves nonprofits all over the United States. As president of Tumis, Rodriguez travels extensively to consult with organizations interested in using visual communications and new technologies to promote community building and social change. In 2009, she co-founded Presente.org, a U.S.-based, nationwide organization dedicated to the political empowerment of Latinos via the internet and mobile messaging.
Jesus Barraza
“I believe screenprinting is an art for the people, as evidenced by its use in social and political movements throughout the last 100 years to educate and organize the masses.”
Jesus Barraza is an activist printmaker based in San Leandro, California. Using bold colors and high contrast images, his prints reflect both his local and global community and their resistance in a struggle to create a new world. Barraza has worked closely with numerous community organizations to create prints that visualize struggles for immigration rights, housing, education, and international solidarity. Printmaking has allowed Barraza to produce relevant images that can be put back into the hands of his community and spread throughout the world. He has exhibited at Galeria de la Raza (San Francisco), Museo del Barrio (New York); de Young Museum (San Francisco); Mexican Fine Arts Center (Chicago); Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (San Francisco); and internationally at the House of Love & Dissent (Rome), Parco Museum (Tokyo), and Mexico. He was a 2005 artist-in-residence with Juan R. Fuentes at San Francisco’s prestigious de Young Museum, and is a recipient of the “Art is a Hammer” award in 2005from the Center for the Study of Political Graphics.
Melanie Cervantes
“I choose to create art as an emancipatory exercise which allows me to declare that a peaceful, sustainable and just world is possible.”
Melanie Cervantes is a Xicana activist-artist whose role is to translate the hopes and dreams of justice movements into images that agitate and inspire. Melanie’s work includes black and white illustrations, paintings, installations and paper stencils, but she is best know for her prolific production of political screen prints and posters. Employing vibrant colors and hand-drawn illustrations, her work moves those viewed as marginal to the center -- featuring powerful youth, elders, women, and queer and indigenous peoples. Melanie received a BA in Ethnic Studies from UC Berkeley in 2004. Melanie has exhibited at Galería de la Raza (San Francisco); Woman Made Gallery and National Museum of Mexican Art (Chicago); Mexic-Arte and Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center (Austin, TX); and Crewest (Los Angeles). Internationally her art has reached Mexico, Slovenia, Palestine, Venezuela, Switzerland and Guatemala. Her work is in public collections of the Center for the Study of Political Graphics, the Latin American Collection of the Green Library at Stanford, and the Hispanic Research Center at the Arizona State University as well as various private collections throughout the U.S.
