Hillwood Art Museum on the C.W. Post Campus Presents
Solarplate Revolution
September 11 – November 18, 2006

Opening Reception with the Artists – Thursday, September 14, 5 to 8 p.m.
Workshop with Dan Welden – Saturday, October 7 (reservations required)
Gallery Talk by Dan Welden – Thursday, October 12, 7 p.m.

Brookville, NY – Large scale paintings, embossed lead, gestural figure drawings and manipulated photographs are all very different forms of art, but in a new exhibition at the Hillwood Art Museum on the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University, they are linked together by their process – solarplate etching.  Solarplate Revolution, a study in this innovative printmaking process, will be on display September 11 through November 18, 2006.

Four artists will be represented by 60 two-dimensional works that share themes such as the natural world and human figures. Art by Eric Fischl, Joan Hall and Deborah Riley will be on display, as will pieces by Long Island artist and master printmaker Dan Welden. Welden developed the solarplate process, which uses the power of the sun and non-toxic materials rather than the chemicals of traditional printmaking.

Solarplate Revolution is an exhibition that demonstrates how these artists, through their individual inspiration, approach identical printmaking materials and obtain completely unique results. “It has been great to work with the participating artists. They are all risk-takers using a new medium to create important works of art,” says Barbara Applegate, Assistant Director of the Hillwood Art Museum. “Each artist was invited for a different reason, but their works compliment one another in theme and content.”

Eric Fishl has been creating, collaborating and using the solarplate process with Dan Welden since they collaborated on a project for the Smithsonian's publication American Art in 1992." His openness to experimentation became a pathway for solarplate printmaking and the prints were included in an exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Dan Welden feels compelled to create the unexpected. Although known primarily for his hybrid two-dimensional works, he decided to use a material that diametrically opposes the airy feeling that paper conveys. In the use of lead, which borders on a danger zone for health and safety, the artist finds new metaphors. Welden says, “The embossed sheets of lead represent the polar opposite of paper and require a different kind of respect in their production and handling.”  

Deborah Riley's prolific commitment to printmaking is evident in the hundreds of images she has created over the years. Her black-and-white photographic self-portraits with animals, created in the Momentary Loss of Self Series, are powerfully haunting. Although a veteran printmaker and papermaker, Joan Hall is relatively new to solarplates. Her artistic statement, regardless of the technique, is one of strength and courage. Making each sheet of her own handmade paper, she has the ability to control everything about it; including its absorbency, color, weight, texture and size.   

Hillwood Art Museum presents a year-round schedule of temporary and permanent exhibitions that cover topics from antiquity to the cutting edge of contemporary art. The 4,500 square foot Museum boasts a beautiful curved gallery which of The New York Times has called “one of the Island’s most dramatic showcases for art.”

Admission to Hillwood Art Museum is free and open to the public. Museum hours are Monday to Friday 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Thursdays until 8 p.m. and Saturdays 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.  Hillwood Art Museum is located on the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University, 720 Northern Boulevard (Route 25A), Brookville. The Museum has ample free parking and is handicap accessible. For more information, call (516) 299-4073 or visit www.liu.edu/museum.

Posted: August 22, 2006