César Chávez: Drawing on Clay, Printing with Glass

Our 2011 visiting artist César Chávez of Oaxaca, Mexico left a great impression on Kutztown University. He also left a number of plates. Ceramics Prof Jim Chaney formed a half-dozen red clay plates, then iced them with a coat of white slip, or diluted clay. He invited César to the ceramics studio to draw. Prof Chaney speaksContinue reading “César Chávez: Drawing on Clay, Printing with Glass”

Dr. Lakra’s Grand Canvas

Dr. Lakra is not a real doctor. He is a tattoo artist and collector of classic porn. He is, of course, more than this. The cutting-edge magazine Juxtapoz often features his art. I met Dr. Lakra late one night last week in a warehouse across the main highway from the center of Oaxaca. The warehouse encounter wasContinue reading “Dr. Lakra’s Grand Canvas”

Experimental Drawing: or How Marshall Arisman Saved My Life in Mexico

This week I taught a 3-day experimental drawing workshop at UABJO, University Benito Juarez, Oaxaca. I love the rainy season here in the mountains of southern Mexico. The workshop was in conjunction with the Kutztown Print exhibit that opened with much fanfare and mescal. Fortunately, I got help from my old Maestro from the SchoolContinue reading “Experimental Drawing: or How Marshall Arisman Saved My Life in Mexico”

KU Print Show travels to Oaxaca, Mexico

Good news from Mexico! Our shipment of 28 prints arrived safely in Oaxaca, Mexico from Kutztown, PA. The self-portraits in a wide variety of media (including woodblock, etching, serigraphy, and lithography) will be exhibited at Benito Juarez University in the month of July. The prints are by Kutztown University faculty, students, alumni, and friends. Sending printsContinue reading “KU Print Show travels to Oaxaca, Mexico”

ASARO’s Revolutionary Art @ Princeton

ASARO: “The Assembly of Revolutionary Artists of Oaxaca” ASARO is a collective of radical young Mexican artists. I met them in 2007.  ASARO’s woodblock prints were laying in the street near Oaxaca’s cathedral. The artists were sitting on the curb. Some looked to be fifteen years old. Broom handles and chunks of stone kept theContinue reading “ASARO’s Revolutionary Art @ Princeton”

César Chávez: Éxito!

Éxito means success in Spanish. César Chávez has been in the U.S for just about two weeks. He first crossed the border on foot in Arizona. He has already forgiven the policeman there who forced him to kneel on the pavement with his hands up while drug dogs sniffed his backpack. Fortunately, César has sinceContinue reading “César Chávez: Éxito!”

César Chávez in Gringolandia

My friend, César Chávez, a great young Mexican artist, is in Kutztown. He was the master printer for the ASARO collective back in 2006 when Oaxaca’s streets were filled with tear gas and protesters’ blood. After a teachers’ strike got out of control hundreds of thousands of people marched on Oaxaca and took over of theContinue reading “César Chávez in Gringolandia”

Peter Kuper at Kutztown

Peter Kuper came to Kutztown at the end of spring semester and gave a well-received Powerpoint lecture on political art. Kuper is a graphic novelist and illustrator whose work has appeared in Time, Newsweek, The NY Times, and Mad Magazine. A number of KU students, including Nick Eck, told Kuper they were fans of hisContinue reading “Peter Kuper at Kutztown”