Core Sample: The Print

March 23 - June 23, 2013

The Judith & Norman Alix Art Gallery (JNAAG) has over 1,100 works in the permanent collection and of those, there are 650 works on paper including 225 prints. Every print in our collection is an original, hand pulled work of art and should not be confused with mass produced photo-offset reproductions.

Core Sample: The Print features 17 exquisite prints offering a focused look at the range of work contained within the JNAAG print collection. The exhibition also provides a survey of the different printmaking techniques and styles used by artists working in Canada between 1928 and 1996, a time period of 68 years.

Representations of everyday life become social history in the art of Jessie Oonark, David Blackwood, and Lukta Qiatsuk. Landscape figures prominently in the iconography of the Canadian imagination and here, the work of Ed Bartram, Samuel Black and Mary Wrinch are grounded in the geography of Canada from coast to coast. Through this small exhibition the often overlooked medium of printmaking is given a voice, and what emerges is a strong exploration of the conceptual, creative and technical possibilities inherent in this traditional art form.