Prints from All Traditions

Devon Johnson

Geronimo

Printmaking Revered, The Perspective Gallery’s current exhibition, gives us the chance to experience different styles of printmaking (from etching to woodblock) from a variety of different artists. In this exhibition, so many artistic visions are realized through printmaking, everyone is sure to find a piece that speaks to them.

 

Night Rider

Included in this exhibition are four prints by Woody Crumbo, which all resonate strongly with me.  Crumbo, a Patowatomi American Indian grew up in Oklahoma in the 1920s and attended art school at the Wichita American Indian Institute where he studied mural technique, watercolor, painting, and drawing.

  

Rainbow Horse

But Crumbo didn’t limit himself to the visual arts. He began playing Kiowa—ceremonial wooded flute—at age 17. While formally studying art, Crumbo also supported himself as a Native American dancer, and in the 1930s, he traveled the US collecting and teaching traditional dances. In his later years, Crumbo became a philanthropist devoted to preserving traditional American Indian art and culture.

Crumbo’s background as an American Indian visual artist and a musician and dancer lend his work an additional dimension of depth. American Indians in traditional garb, as well as nature scenes are frequent subjects of his work, which has been displayed at the Smithsonian and the Met. Happily you don’t have to go that far to see Crumbo’s prints—four small etchings, depicting horse riders and deer, are on display through mid August at the Perspective Gallery.

Winter on the Reservation

                                                                                 

Along with the Woody Crumbo etchings, prints by more than forty other artists are also on display. This exhibition offers the opportunity to experience a vast array of printmaking techniques and unique artistic visions. For each artist represented, there is a new story and imagination, and a new chance to fall in love with prints. Come live a part of printmaking history through this extensive collection and get to know Woody Crumbo—and many, many others!

Devon V. Johnson
Virginia Tech Class of 2014 (fall)
English, Professional Writing

Devon Johnson is a gallery assistant at Perspective Gallery and is guest blogging for us this semester until she graduates.

-Robin Scully Boucher, Director