Odili Donald Odita, Cut, 2016. Offset lithograph. Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Margaret Fisher Fund, 2018.33.44. © Odili Donald Odita.
Founded by Allan Edmunds in Philadelphia in 1972, the Brandywine Workshop and Archives provides a fertile environment for artists from diverse backgrounds to create cutting-edge prints. At Brandywine, collaboration and the exchange of ideas feed a culture of experimentation, in which master printers and artists continually challenge conventions of the creative process and push the technical boundaries of printmaking to produce compelling new works.
“My Country Needs Me,” Rodney Ewing
This exhibition marks the first presentation of a group of works acquired by the Harvard Art Museums from the Brandywine Workshop in 2018. Comprising prints and proofs by nearly 30 artists, the acquisition itself was a cooperative effort between curators and other museum colleagues as well as Harvard students and professors, who selected works that highlight collaboration and innovation, values at the core of Brandywine’s pioneering approach. The collection spans the history of the workshop, from the early 1970s to today, and includes works by artists who had not yet found representation in the marketplace or museum collections when they arrived at Brandywine—a key constituency of the organization, which seeks to create opportunities for such artists. The exhibition honors that mission by incorporating the perspectives of Brandywine artists, students, and members of the greater Boston community in interpretive materials and associated programming.
“Mientras Mas Astras,” Pedro Abascal
Artists in the exhibition: Pedro Abascal, Danny Alvarez, John Biggers, Andrea Chung, Louis Delsarte, Allan Edmunds, Rodney Ewing, Sam Gilliam, Simon Gouverneur, Sedrick Huckaby, Hughie Lee-Smith, Ibrahim Miranda, Tanya Murphy, Kenneth Noland, Odili Donald Odita, Janet Taylor Pickett, Howardena Pindell, Robert Pruitt, Faith Ringgold, Betye Saar, Eduardo Roca Salazar, Juan Sanchez, Clarissa Sligh, Pamela Phatsimo Sunstrum, Hank Willis Thomas, Larry Walker, Stanley Whitney, Deborah Willis, and Murray Zimiles.
“Autobiography: Past & Present II,” Howardena Pindell
Prints from the Brandywine Workshop and Archives: Creative Communities and its associated programming were developed by colleagues in the museums’ Division of Modern and Contemporary Art: Hannah Chew, Summer 2021 SHARP Research Fellow and 2021–22 Student Assistant; Jessica Ficken, Cunningham Curatorial Assistant for the Collection; Sarah Kianovsky, Curator of the Collection; and Joelle Te Paske, Curatorial Graduate Student Intern; together with colleagues in the Division of European and American Art: Elizabeth M. Rudy, Carl A. Weyerhaeuser Curator of Prints; and Natalia Ángeles Vieyra, Maher Curatorial Fellow of American Art.
Betye Saar, American, Mystic Sky with Self-Portrait, 1992. Offset lithograph with printed collage elements. Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Margaret Fisher Fund, 2018.33.50. © Betye Saar. Image: Courtesy of Harvard Art Museums; © President and Fellows of Harvard College.
Support for this exhibition is provided by the Alexander S., Robert L., and Bruce A. Beal Exhibition Fund, the Fund for the Contemporary Art Department, and the Robert M. Light Print Department Fund. Related programming is supported by the M. Victor Leventritt Lecture Series Endowment Fund. Modern and contemporary art programs at the Harvard Art Museums are made possible in part by generous support from the Emily Rauh Pulitzer and Joseph Pulitzer, Jr., Fund for Modern and Contemporary Art.
Online Resources
This exhibition features a digital companion with creative responses to the prints on display. It is also accessible via QR code in the galleries.
About the exhibition
Dates: March 4, 2022–July 31, 2022
Venue: Special Exhibitions Gallery, Harvard Art Museums
Courtesy Harvard Art Museums.
