ORGANIZED BY
INTERNATIONAL PRINT CENTER NEW YORK

Presented by the AXA Gallery

PRESS RELEASE:

New York, NY - From November 2, 2005 to January 28, 2006, the AXA Gallery will present a major exhibition of printed works organized by International Print Center New York (IPCNY). The exhibition features nearly 90 works by artists as diverse as William Blake, Vija Celmins, Albrecht Dürer, Max Ernst, M.C. Escher, Francisco Goya, Rockwell Kent, Giovanni Battista Piranesi, José Guadalupe Posada, and Tsukioka Yoshitoshi. These works explore the role of printed images in shaping cultural ideas throughout history, and the influence of the surrounding culture on the creation of the images themselves.

Imagined Worlds: Willful Inventions and the Printed Image 1470 - 2005 comprises fine art prints, books, and maps from many cultures, spanning five hundred years. Included are images of remote places and imaginary realms, real and fictional scientific investigations, and serious and comic inventions. What each work has in common is that it was created from an unknown, partially known, or completely unseen subject. Whether based on direct observation or pure fantasy, these prints illustrate the power of imagination and subjectivity in the creation and interpretation of images. Imagined Worlds was curated by Amy Baker Sandback and organized by International Print Center New York.		Rockwell Kent Solar Fade-Out, No. 2 From End of World Series, 1937 Lithograph Print Collection, Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs, The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations
Support has been provided by the International Fine Print Dealers Association, the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, and the Arthur Ross Foundation. AXA Gallery is sponsored by AXA Financial. Additional assistance has been provided by AXA Art Insurance Corporation.

Albrecht Dürer The Rhinoceros, 1515 Woodcut Print Collection, Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs, The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations

William Ivins, Jr., the first curator of prints at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, noted that long before the advent of photography, printed images functioned as important sources of information, profoundly affecting how people viewed the world around them. Printed images were an essential tool for communicating ideas. Ivins observed that in their selection of visual information, artists were influenced by their surroundings, yet what was meant as an accurate and objective portrayal was actually made "under the pressure of an idea." Their works thus reflect their own knowledge and attitudes toward their subjects as much as they do the inherent character of their sources.

A series of works by the eighteenth-century artist Jean Baptiste Pillement presents Chinese subjects with distinctly European attributes: the Oriental figures depicted could hardly look more French in gesture and stance. In fact, the works were only loosely modeled on designs found on imported dishes that were fashionable in Paris at the time. The images found their way to European households as wallpaper and fabric designs. The artist-who displayed his work in London, Paris, Vienna, and Lisbon, and held appointments from Marie Antoinette and from King Stanislas II Augustus of Poland-intended for his popular Eastern-inspired themes to be understood in a Western framework. From the reverse perspective, an anonymous Japanese rendering of the American naval officer Matthew Perry applied Asian features to its subject. In 1853, Commodore Perry headed an expedition to Japan to establish trade with the United States. The day after his ships entered Edo Bay, local artists were sent in boats to sketch the newly arrived Westerners. Woodblocks were used in the press in Japan, and within a week of Perry's arrival, prints were available to the public, providing a visual introduction to the blue-eyed foreigners. From the startling blue eyeballs in the prints, we can see that some artists were confused about where the blueness resided.

Anonymous Japanese artist Portrait of Commodore Perry, ca. 19th century Color woodcut Print Collection, Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs, The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations

Accompanying the exhibition is a full-color catalogue, co-published by IPCNY and AXA Gallery, with interpretative essays by the exhibition's curator and a range of experts from diverse fields, including Dr. Nils Büttner, specialist in German and Dutch visual culture from the 15-17th centuries and Professor at Dortmund University; Jon Dykstra, an economic geologist and Vice President and Director of Digital Imaging at Earth Satellite Corporation; Thomas W. Lollar, an artist and Director of the Lincoln Center List Art Collection; Midori Nishizawa, an independent curator and writer on Japanese culture based in Japan; and Sarah Richards, an English art historian and expert on print culture and the decorative arts.

International Print Center New York is a nonprofit institution founded to promote the greater appreciation of the fine art print worldwide by fostering a climate for the enjoyment, examination, and study of artists' prints-from the old master to the contemporary. Located in New York City, IPCNY nurtures new audiences for the visual arts while serving the print community through its exhibitions, publications, and educational programs. Imagined Worlds celebrates IPCNY's fifth anniversary. For further information about IPCNY and its membership program, please visit www.ipcny.org.

AXA Gallery showcases works from all fields of the visual arts, with a special interest in exhibitions that would not otherwise have a presence in the city. The gallery is located in the atrium lobby of Equitable Tower, 787 Seventh Avenue at 51st Street, in New York City. Hours are Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Saturday, noon to 5 p.m.; closed Sundays. Admission is free.