Arts + Literature Laboratory Exhibits

media release: February 15 - March 26 at ALL, 111 S Livingston Street Suite 100. Reception: Friday, March 18, 6-9pm.

Gallery hours are now Tuesday-Friday 10am-5pm and Saturday 12-5pm.

De Tierras Bravas

Artists: Héctor Gómez, Omar González, Juana Estrada Hernandez, Mariela López, Victor López, and Marco Sánchez

Curated by: J. Leigh Garcia [MFA '18]

Printmaking in Mexico dates back to the sixteenth century. In fact, Mexico is credited as the first Latin American country to utilize print. Prints of the Mexican Revolution and World War II made by Mexican artists are still celebrated and exhibited today, with many leaving their impact and influence on contemporary printmakers of Mexican descent. In the exhibition, De Tierras Bravas (Our Wild Land), the work of contemporary Mexican and Mexican-American printmakers from both sides of the Mexico-U.S. border explore themes of Mexican folklore, immigration, labor, and cultural identity while honoring the spirited and often tumultuous history of Mexican land.

Nāu te rourou, nāku te rourou - With your basket and my basket

Artists: Marwin Begaye, Alexis Neal, and Vanessa Edwards

Virtual Artist Talk: Friday, March 11

Nāu te rourou, nāku te rourou ka ora ai te iwi - with your basket and my basket the people will thrive.

The title comes from a Maori whakatauki (proverb) that speaks to sharing of resources and knowledge to ensure the wellbeing of all people involved.

This is what we do culturally, iwi to iwi and clan to clan.

As indigenous printmakers who have developed our practices over 20 years we approach the making process with our cultural lens intact, developing our narrative through our art.

We share our knowledge and energy, we host and take care of each other. We support one another so that the practice of print will not only be sustained, but prosper wherever we are in the world. This is a collective approach, highlighting the idea that we are a part of something greater than ourselves. Nāu te rourou, nāku te rourou collectively showcases three indigenous voices in one space and speaks to relationships between peoples, our environment and our culture over time.

The fourth voice featured is a representation from Toi Whakaata - a Maori print collective from Aotearoa (NZ), established in 2006. This collective was the indirect result of Professor John Hitchcock and Melanie Yazzies influence and encouragement at the time and epitomises the cyclic connection between us and our art practises.

Oaxaca: Life on Paper

Curated by: Roberto Torres Mata [MFA '21]

OAXACA: Life on Paper brings artists from Oaxaca to share their printmaking experiences to Madison, Wisconsin. Exploring local culture and many multi-ethnic backgrounds that reflects the customs and traditions within communities that manifest the act of cooperation based on actions carried out for the benefit of those who need it, paying back the same help at a certain moment, a key strength of Zapotec identity.

There Are A Lot Of Us (March 1 - 26)

ArtWorking is a Madison, Wisconsin based nonprofit program that supports artists and entrepreneurs with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Serigraphy has been central to ArtWorking’s mode of operation for its entire 15 year history. ArtWorking and its affiliated artists have used printmaking techniques and processes as a creative matrix, as a means to create products for artist-entrepreneurs, and as an interactive contact point for creating dialog and relationships within the greater community. The title of this exhibition reflects the often cited statistic that a quarter of all Americans have some type of disability.