I took myself on a field trip the other day. The decision to go was spontaneous and out of the ordinary for me and I’m really glad I chose to make it happen.
I received an email from the Art League of Long Island near the end of February 2014 that offered a tour of the ULAE (Universal Limited Art Editions) workshop to the first 25 people who responded to the email. The tour was sponsored by the Art League of Long Island and they are hosting an exhibit at the Jeanie Tengelsen Art Gallery called “Hot Off the Press” through March 30, 2014. It is an “exhibition of 40 prints, executed since the year 2000, by 20 contemporary artists” from ULAE. And in case you missed the tour Bill Goldston, who runs the press will be speaking at the Art League on March 27th.
Knowing next to nothing about printmaking and my only experience being from many years ago when I made a couple of woodblock prints back in college, I am always curious about how something is made. I had no idea what the ULAE was but by now, I am intrigued, I’m going!
What, may you ask, is ULAE? It’s a workshop/studio space for artists (by invitation only) to work with Bill Goldston and his staff to create limited editions of artwork AND it is practically in my backyard in Bay Shore, NY! Goldston and the ULAE is a publisher of fine art prints executed by well-known, established artists. Read more about the history of ULAE here.
So, what did I see, do and learn?
Goldston explained how he got started with ULAE and how he works with the artists. Foremost, he is a publisher. He chooses whom he wants to work with and invites artists to come and create artwork. Some artists have never worked in this medium so it appears it is a collaborative effort at times as Goldston shares his vast knowledge of printing, inks, materials, and processes with the artist. Goldston is articulate and patient as he explained and answered so many of our questions. And Ricarda Goldston, Bill’s wife, “translated” many of our questions so that Bill would answer them in the easiest of ways.
Throughout the studios I saw huge offset printing presses,
Offset printing press
and a press made in the 1840’s that is still in use.
Press circa 1840 at ULAE
The press in the picture below had a Jasper Johns woodblock on it that was made I believe in the 1980’s.
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Jasper Johns woodblock, Goldston on the right.
We were able to watch a print being executed using five individual copper plates, each plate carefully cleaned and inked, then precisely placed on the press and run through the press.
Intaglio print by Mark Fox
After asking questions of the printers on how they matched up each plate so the artwork was able to print so precisely, we went to another part of the studio where we were able to see new works by Jasper Johns and Terry Winters.
Lithographs by Jasper Johns for an upcoming show with Goldston on the left.
This print went through the press 11 different times using a new color each time.
Print by Terry Winters, Goldston in the picture
Goldston then led us to the digital studio where he showed us the beginnings of a piece of art made by Carroll Dunham (and yes, for those of you who watch “Girls” on HBO, he is Lena’s dad!). In an envelope were several 8 1/2 x 11 pieces of paper with a drawing on each of them. Goldston described how he scanned each piece and made each drawing bigger. He sent the digital file back to Dunham who was able to color the artwork digitally on his own computer. The new file was sent back to Goldston who then printed on a specific paper that was textured and looked like it had hair running through it. Here are several iterations shown below. The final piece, of which only one was made – and there will only be one, will have to be seen when it’s ready to be seen in a gallery or museum as my camera died!
Artwork by Carroll Dunham
The afternoon I spent at ULAE was inspiring, thought-provoking, and made me come home and look at my own artwork in new and exciting ways.
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