Featured Artist:
Kate McQuillen, Fall 2014 Artist in Residence
Dates:
3/28/2015 – 6/12/2015
Location:
The Annex @ Spudnik Press
Opening Reception:
Saturday March 28, 2015
6:00-9:00pm
Press Release:
The printing press is a tool that creates its product through extreme pressure. The works in this show cite materials that are also results of extreme pressure: namely, oil and diamonds. Themes of crushing and erupting are depicted as natural, yet violent, processes that are tied to these valuable elements within the earth.
Bouncing light, angled surfaces, erupting forms and petroleum products are presented throughout the show in prints and printmaking materials. Tympan grease, a facilitaing material for press operation, becomes the markmaking material in images of erupting crude oil spindletops; in other pieces, the crushing action of the printing press reworks images into fractured, compressed surfaces. McQuillen considers the value we place in these materials that come from deep within the earth, the human fascination with them, and the extreme conditions under which they are produced.
Artist Bio:
Kate McQuillen is a Chicago-based artist working in print and installation, and is represented by O’Born Contemporary. She has shown in Toronto, Chicago, Montreal, and Boston, and has works in public and private collections in Europe and North America. Writings about her work have been included in such news outlets as The Chicago Reader, Time Out Chicago and Rabble.ca, and in publications by Columbia College Chicago and Rutgers University.