The Art of Printmaking

works by Deborah Guertze, Matthias Kern & Hella Viola

2006 Apr 1 - May 7

Opening Reception for the Artists Saturday, Apr 1, 4 - 6 pm

Early Nightfall in the Catskills

Deborah Guertze

In the Middle

Matthias Kern

Rocker

Hella Viola

The Art of Printmaking:

Of Hudson Riveer Dutch ancestry, Deborah Gurertze feels a natural kinship with the Hudson River School of painters, though she is making etchings (prints made from and etched plate) and monotypes, the printmaker’s approach to painting. “Wilderness—its patterns and complexity—are a continual source of inspiration. My panorama explores the ever-changing natural world and gives expression to themes of passage from dark to light, along a country road, from man-made to overgrown, chaotic and splendor,” says the artist. Guertze’s images of our landscape are breathtakingly beautiful, winning her over 40 awards and honors. 

Ms. Guertze’s national exhibitions include the Hunterdon NationalPrint Exhibition, Boston Printmaker’s National Exhibition, International Print Biennial—Silvermine Guild, and Small Impressions, Rutger’s University. Her solo exhibitions include the Emerson Museum, Syracuse, the Yager Museum, Hartwick College, Oneonta, and the Cooperstown Art Association. She is corporately and institutionally collected by Smith Barney, Key Bank, City College of the City Universtiy of New York, and the Print Council of New Jersey, among others.

From Celle, Germany, a small city south of Hamburg, Matthias Kern renders etchings with aqua tint that seem to speak to the spirit and spirits of our forests.  In Germany, he studied with renowned watercolorist Martha Asfalck-Fietz and printmakers Silvia Slawik-Nolte and Helga Hentschel-Holterdorf in Worpswede. He has shown extensively throughout Germany and after moving to the United States in the mid-1990’s, settling in New York, he has exhibited  at a number of NYC venues, including Dumbo Art Festival, NOHO Art Walk, and the Manhattan Graphics Center.

“Over the years expressions my art  has been demonstrated through art forms such as watercolor, acrylic and pastel, as well as print media encompassing intaglio (the art of carving hollowed-out designs in material such as stone), etching, lithography, woodcut, silkscreen, monoprint and monotype. My vision is to achieve in my work, feelings that we all experience and to allow the audience to personalize those emotions to mean something specific for them,” says Mr. Kern.

Also born in Germany, Walton based artist Hella Viola creates mezzotints, prints produced by an engraving process that involves scraping and burnishing copper plates. She studied painting and printmaking at ART LAB, Staten Island and the School of Visual Arts, NYC. Her exhibition history includes the Annual Jeane Pearce Walker Juried Exhibition, Oneonta; Ex Libris, A Word and Image Exhibit at the Bright Hill Center, Treadwell, NY; Cooperstown Art Association; Treadwell Museum Exhibition; and the Yager Museum, Hartwick College, Oneonta.

“While studying the art of mezzotint with NYC printmaker HermanZaag, I became enamored with the velvety texture, "the look," of this old art form.  My second print ever won a prize at the Staten Island Museum’s annual printing exhibition, and I was hooked.  When I moved to Delaware County in 1986, my first acquisition was an etching press.  Though I also work in other media, I always go back to my first love, the mezzotint,” says Ms. Viola. 

All three artists are passionate about The Art of Printmaking.

Please call 845.676.4901 or email zoe@chacerandallgallery.com for more information.