Dirk Hagner: Deep Cuts

A review by Bevis Hari

The exhibition runs until 5/28/2013

Dirk Hagner: Deep Cuts, found inside Biola University’s library, features breath-taking prints done by artist Dirk Hagner. Walking inside the library for the first time, one is greeted with large-scale woodcuts  mounted on the walls. Beautiful prints over twenty by forty inches in size are framed, while the original wood block used in the process hangs next to them.

The artist’s main subject is portraying prominent people known throughout the course of history. Although most of his prints depict simply faces, Hagner successfully gives a dramatic look and pose to each. For instance, Hagner’s Tilman Riemenschneider (2002) shows the prolific German woodcarver curiously looking off into the distance. It is apparent that this was done using the suicide cut method. One side of the composition is dominated by shadow, and the background is composed by a vertical textured pattern that mimics the look of etched marks. In fact, what I find to be my favorite feature amongst the prints by Hagner is the obvious display of "chatter" marks. Its as if he intended not to be too careful about his mark making, however still keeping every details with the different width of the various gouges. One can also recognize that Hagner paid attention to light, as each of his prints assumes one light source that directs the lighting and shading. All these elements combine to create successful and dramatic composition within each print.

I have seen a few woodcut prints that are magnificent, but not as iconic as Dirk Hagner’s. The consistency in style and subject matter amongst his prints makes him a successful printmaking artist. There is no doubt that Biola University chose the right artist to represent art in printmaking.

Ed Ruscha: "Standard," at The Los Angeles County Museum of Art

Ed Ruscha, USA, Standard Station, 1966, Screenprint 

Ed Ruscha, USA, Hollywood, 1968, Screenprint

"Ed Ruscha's influence can be seen in graphic design, cinema, architectural theory, and urban history. His art depicts everyday objects – gas stations, street signs, billboards, commercial packaging – yet often triggers philosophical reflection about the relationship between words, things, and ideas. The word “standard” is a case in point: it can be a banner or rallying point, an established level of quality, and an oil company’s brand name. In his depictions of Standard stations, Ruscha points to each of these definitions and more. LACMA's collection includes more than 300 works by Ruscha." LA County Museum Website

This current exhibition will run until 1/21/2013, with a film & a lecture about the show happening on Friday, 10/26 in LACMA's Bing Theater at 7:30 PM. Titled, The Intersection of Art & Film, the lecture includes Mad Men creator Matt Weiner, film historian, critic & curator Elvis Mitchell, and Britt Salvesen, LACMA curator and department head of prints and drawings, for a discussion about the interplay of art and film in conjunction with the exhibition. A screening of Ed Ruscha’s short films Premium (1971/24 min.) and Miracle (1975/28 min.) will follow.

The cost is $14 for students with valid student ID's; for tickets call: 323 857-6010 or purchase online from the Museum's website.

Dirk Hagner at the L.A. Print Fair

“Dirk Hagner’s large scale woodcuts have long addressed his interest in artists, poets, writers, and actors – always with some very personal fascination. These people are celebrities – although, some are rather obscure. There is inherent romanticism in Hagner’s work, which, perhaps, is not surprising for an heir of German expressionism: Hagner believes in magic. He subscribes to the moment of illumination – or transcendence – when a work of art gets inside of you, and you feel euphoric. It would be a mistake to perceive Hagner’s homage’s as analogous to Warhol’s celebrity worship. One of Hagner’s portraits in this show is of German printmaker Horst Janssen; Hagner’s interest as an artist is akin to a man’s interest in his forebears.” - Christopher Michno

Area artist Dirk Hagner will be both presenting his work and giving two talks about his imagery at the LA Printers Fair, in the International Printing Museum's Front Gallery at 11am and 2pm on October 6, 2012. Other work may also be seen at his booth, #B50. The address is 315 West Torrance Blvd., Carson, CA. The phone number (should you need further information on the fair) is: 310/515-7166.

You can purchase tickets on-line for the fair, by using Paypal & going to www.printmuseum.org/printersfair/. The fair will run from 9 - 5 PM, & is a one day only affair, and tickets cost $6.00. Their web-site recommends parking across the street in the K-Mart shopping center lot. Hopefully, they've worked this out in advance with K-Mart.

Oscar Cueto - "Solitude," Walter Maciel Gallery

This exhibition closes on 10/27/12. The Maciel Gallery is located at 2642 South La Cienega Blvd., Los Angeles. Hours of operation are from 11 - 6 PM, Tuesday - Saturday, call 310/839-1840 for further information. I've included a description of the watercolor color drawings by Mexico City based artist Oscar Cueto from the official Press Release.

"Oscar Cueto will present 18 small format drawings executed in watercolor and based on different symmetrical patterns and shapes found in the Rorschach psychological tests.  The stains are cleverly placed within landscapes taken from photographs of Cueto’s travels including city streets, urban parks and the ocean.  The mysterious blots become monstrous creatures that create a fantasy of terror for the impending peaceful scenery.  In one drawing a young boy is shown walking down a curvy path of a public park only to be greeted by the perfectly placed Rorschach monster.  Depending on how the blot is interpreted, it looks both like a tree (in keeping with the surrounding forest) and a grotesque beast with flailing arms and feet.  In another drawing the Rorschach stain is placed above the horizon line of the ocean appearing like a bat flying into the moody sky.  In all of the drawings, the psychology of the ink blot forms is reversed as they themselves become the horror that impends on the otherwise serene and peaceful quality of each landscape.  The series continues Cueto’s morose fascination with American horror films and their celebrity subjects as well as the demented capabilities of the human mind all within a humorous intent."

James Whistler, LA County Museum of Art

James Whistler, USA - A Review by Kris Westreich

 Nocturne - Palaces, etching, 1879

The prints in this exhibition were wonderful. They allowed the viewer to trace his artistic development through his etchings. At the beginning, things were tightly rendered and detail-filled. Towards the end, the prints tend to describe through suggestion rather than detail. One thing I saw that I never considered was the way Whistler used the plate tone to establish value. He will leave more plate tone in an area that he wants to be darker and wipe out others that he wants to be lighter. In this way he challenges the idea of a print having to be exactly the same each time. My two favorites of the exhibition were “Nocturne: Palaces” and “Weary.” They both tend to put more detail in certain parts of the print, and leave others as merely outlines or as indications rather than full-blown descriptions.  Some of them almost approach an abstract emptiness, such as in “Old Battersea” bridge. Of course, the draftsmanship present is also very accomplished in these etchings.

Under Old Battersea Bridge, etching and drypoint, 1879

The German Woodcut: Renaissance and Expressionist Revival

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Geramny, 1909, Woodcut, Bathers Tossing Reeds


May 5, 2012–September 9, 2012, LA County Museum of Art
A Review by Kris Westreich

I thought this exhibition was particularly successful. Not only was the quality of the work superb, but also the way they displayed it demonstrated the distinctly German characteristics of these modern artists. By displaying those prints next to German Renaissance artists, the exhibition links together the traditions of the medium across generations. I was particularly taken with Kirchner's prints Bathers Tossing Reeds and Portrait of Ludwig Schames as well as the Kollwitz prints.

Hans Baldung Grien, Germany, Woodcut, 1534, Stallion and Kicking Mare with Wild Horses

Technically, it was interesting to note the difference between the modern and renaissance artists. The old master prints tend to lean more towards chiaroscuro and graduated value distribution. In order to achieve that, the artists had to work on minute details, such as in Stallion and Kicking Mare with Wild Horses by Hans Baldung Grien.

Character and Crisis - Printmaking in America: 1920 - 1950

Reginald Marsh, USA, 1932, Etching, Bread Line

This historical exhibition is running at the San Diego Museum of Art, 5998 Alcalá Park, until 12/14/12. Located in the Robert and Karen Hoehn Family Galleries, the exhibition is free of charge, and also features the work of Edward Hopper. Call 619/260-4545 for hours of operation and other information.