Curated by Sarah Richards
March 11 - April 24, 2010

International Print Center New York announces the presentation of Wallworks: Contemporary Pictorial Wallpapers, opening on Thursday, March 11th and remaining on view through Saturday, April 24, 2010 in IPCNY’s gallery at 526 West 26th Street, Room 824.

An Opening Reception will be held on Thursday, March 11th from 6-8 pm.

Wallworks contextualizes contemporary wallpaper design by examining its evolution over a period of some two hundred years. Curated by decorative arts specialist Sarah Richards, it will include 35-40 examples of commercially available wallpaper illustrating the intersection of the decorative arts and culture at large.  The range of technologies included in the exhibition will illuminate the commercial application of fine art printmaking techniques. Traditional mediums, such as woodcut and screenprint, will be shown along with mechanical reproduction and modern digital techniques.

Papers celebrating George Washington’s Inauguration will hang alongside examples reflecting popular fascination with cowboy culture and foreign lands, as well as contemporary subjects such as air travel. Nature is present in the form of reptiles, bats, domesticated animals, and avian subjects of all variety, and social history is examined in scenes of life in Harlem and community.

IPCNY presents Wallworks as part of the independent programming accompanying the New York Design Festival taking place in New York City this spring. For more information on the festival, please visit: http://www.nydesignfestival.com.

A curatorial essay by Ms. Richards will be generously illustrated and reproduced in brochure format to accompany the exhibition.

IPCNY is grateful to the manufacturers and dealers who have so generously loaned work for the show including: Adelphi Paper Hangings, Carter & Company/Mt. Diablo Handprints, Flavor Paper, House Vernacular, Palace Papers Inc, Pottock Prints, Sheila Bridges Design Inc., Studio Printworks, Sum Design, The Art of Wallpaper, and Trustworh Studios. (List in formation.)

IPCNY acknowledges with gratitude a generous grant from the Felicia Fund, which supported the exhibition.

International Print Center New York is a non-profit institution founded to promote the greater appreciation and understanding of the fine art print worldwide. Through innovative programming, IPCNY fosters a climate for the enjoyment, examination and serious study of artists’ print—from the old master to the contemporary. IPCNY offers its members a program of workshop and gallery visits, and has established an informational website and Information Desk available to the public at the gallery. IPCNY depends upon public and private donations to support its programs.

IPCNY’s programs are supported with grants from The Lily Auchincloss Foundation, the Milton and Sally Avery Arts Foundation, The Deborah Loeb Brice Foundation, The Carnegie Corporation of New York, The Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation, The Edward John Noble Foundation, The Hess Foundation, The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation, the PECO Foundation, The Reed Foundation, and with public funds from the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs. 

The gallery is located in Chelsea between 10th and 11th Avenues. Hours are 11-6, Tuesday through Saturday.

For additional information, please call (212) 989-5090 or visit IPCNY’s website at www.ipcny.org. For images, contact Julia Lillie (julia@ipcny.org)