a+D
June 26 – July 23, 2008
Curated by Anchor Graphics
Kathleen Judge, Night 2, silkscreen, 21” x 30”, 2008
Keith G Herzik, Dog face, 2008, 6 color serigraph on glossy paper, 17.5” x 22.75”
Jay Ryan, Sound Opinions Radio show, 2007
5 color screen print, 20” x 26”
Nadine Y. Nakanishi, Shikishi 5, Serigraphie, Hanko stamp on Shikishi Board, 10.5” x 9.5”
by James Iannaccone
On July 21, 1969 Neil Armstrong and
“Buzz” Aldrin stood in front of a screen-printed American flag that they
had just planted in the Sea of Tranquility’s lunar dust. In fact throughout the
1960s, as Pop Artists used screen printing to critique and elevate a consumer culture whose development was greatly indebted to the process, screen
printing was hard at work maintaining its position at the forefront of technology and industry. The era of the transistor brought the need to efficiently
produce the components of its new electronics. The screen-printing process
proved to be incredibly adept at laying down electrically conductive material or applying resists to
metal that could later be etched into the desired
circuits. The printed circuit board was a technical
revolution that would eventually lead to the personal computer.
Over a decade earlier, at the end of World War II, a new
polymer called polyester replaced the silk used for screen
printing just as it did for the parachutes used by paratroopers. In both cases it proved to be cheaper, stronger, more
reliable and reusable. While the war was still raging, both
man and machine crawled through Europe’s mud emblazoned with screen-printed images. GIs wore t-shirts with the
words “U.S. Army Property” screen printed on them while
tanks and other military equipment were adorned with identification numbers and insignias applied through the same
process. On the home front, Hollywood was using newly developed photo emulsions to rapidly deploy hundreds of thousands of screen-printed movie posters to theaters around
the country.
Rob Doran, Dig Your Self, 2008, 22”x 30”
Cover image:
Nick Butcher, Dry Land, 2007
13 color screen print, 22”x 30”
The Hollywood/Armed Forces connection is much more direct than it first appears as the big studios were continuing a screen-printed poster tradition initiated during the
First World War by the Uncle Sam recruiting campaign. A
campaign made possible by John Pilsworth who perfected
a system for multi-color screen-printing in San Francisco.
Pilsworth’s technique became hugely popular for large
quantity industrial needs including mass-produced signs,
banners, and flags like the one currently orbiting 238,900
miles above our heads. But also for point of sale advertising in the new chain stores which began sprouting up
across America.
Pilsworth was using stretched silk over wooden frames and
a block out that could be painted on, what was referred to
as a tieless stencil design first patented in 1907 by Samuel Simon. Simon was an English sign painter who sought to
simplify his tedious and labor-intensive occupation. He discovered that he could print signs rapidly and consistently
by borrowing ideas for constructing stencils from Japanese
fabric dyers. With the end of Japanese isolationism in the
later half of the 19th century such printed textiles were
once again attracting great attention in Europe.
2
While often at the vanguard of technology and culture,
screen-printing’s simple underlying principles invite accessibility. The medium is incredibly versatile and can
be practiced with the most rudimentary of equipment.
Perhaps for these reasons it has been embraced by independent music communities around the world. On the
practical side imagery such as band logos and text can
easily be applied to multiple products from show bills to
cds to t-shirts without the need for multiple matrices. Economically speaking basic materials can be acquired fairly
cheaply and the speed of production can be very rapid.
However there is another more aesthetic side. The draw
of the hand made is undeniable in today’s DIY focused
cultures. For musicians growing up recording Lo Fi mu-
In fact Europe and America had borrowed the idea even
earlier than that, focusing on stenciled fabric as a means
to dress up buildings instead of bodies. Wallpaper became
chic in the 17th century and stencils were used to help
decorate the elegant homes of the wealthy. During what is
known as the flocking process, stencils were used to transfer glue in the desired patterns onto paper, which was then
sprinkled with wool dust to produce an effect much like
that of embroidery. Wallpaper manufacturers initially used
stencils with ties but found them to be difficult and ineffective for intricate designs. So taking a page from the Japanese they replaced it with a silk material that was stronger
and would allow for a higher degree of detail.
The Japanese fabric dyeing stencils, called katagami, used
layers of hardened mulberry paper to sandwich a net made
from widely spaced silk threads. Dyes were then brushed
onto fabric through this construction. This process was itself an adaptation of stenciling used in China almost 2,000
years ago. The Chinese used human hair as ties to connect
elements of their designs.
However, the earliest fashion designers to use stenciling
could be found in the Indonesian Archipelago. Designs were
cut into banana leaves and dyes or inks forced through,
printing the images onto a bark cloth called tapa. Legend
has it that this process was developed after locals were
watching rain drip through holes in leaves eaten by insects.
Repetitive shapes and patterns abounded and the Hawaiian shirt is a direct descendant of this processes.
At its heart screen printing is just a more technically developed form of stenciling and so can be traced all the
way back to the cave paintings of our Stone Age ancestors. Prehistoric graffiti writers decorated the walls at Lascaux and Altamira used blowpipes instead of spray cans
and their hands and leaves as block outs.
Dan MacAdam, Fort #1, silkscreen, 23” x 23”
sic in their bedrooms on old 4 tracks, the fit with lowtech merchandise is natural. There is a similar can do,
make it work spirit and parallels can draw between the
hiss and pop of analog recording devices and the tactile nature of analog printing processes. Or perhaps
the appeal is the rejection of the cleanly packaged machine made corporate product, a sentiment that can be
traced back to the punk movement, the pioneers of the
DIY ethos. In the over produced, P. Diddy’ed professional music world the desire to turn away and find another
means of expression can be very strong and the screenprint allows the opportunity to maintain creative control
while providing multiple platforms for this expression.
This appeal of the hand made can be seen in the function
of the show bill itself and its shift away from the realm
of ephemera. Originally intended as disposable advertising for concerts, show bills are now sought after by fans
as souvenirs, a permanent visual reminder of an auditory
experience, and by collectors who often view them, and
rightly so, as fine art.
The accessibility of the medium and its DIY spirit has lead
to a hand-me-down educational process where artists teach
other artists in jerry-rigged print shops. In Chicago it all began
with Steve Walters. Credited as the godfather of Chicago’s
screen-printed band art, Steve Walters founded Screwball
Press in 1991. A self-proclaimed failed musician and selftaught artist, Walters was looking for a way to stay a part
of the music community that he loved when he happened
upon a screen-printing kit in his local art store. From there he
began to make t-shirts for his friends’ bands and has gone
on to do posters and album covers for some of Chicago’s
best known musicians and venues. In addition through his
Screwball Academy he has passed on the screen-printing
tradition with the credo “a printer in every band.” Steve
has trained many great artists who have them selves gone
on to teach others including Bob Hartzell, Kristen
Thiele, Mike Benedetto, Keith Herzik, Jason Frederick, and Jay
Ryan. The last being one of Walters’s best-known students.
Jay Ryan learned the art form working under Steve Walters
at Screwball where he started in 1995. There he printed
posters for his own band (Dianogah), friends’ bands, and the
clubs they played. In 1999, Jay Ryan went on to start his own
print shop, Bird Machine, in the basement of his apartment
building. Jay Ryan has continued the tradition of taking on
and training younger artists included Mat Daly who assisted
Ryan with printing until the end of 2007 and Nick Butcher
and Nadine Nakanishi who have gone on to found Sonnezimmer, as well as Diana Sudyka, Kevin Duneman, Sue Demel,
Alana Bailey, Jack Ryan, and Dan Grzeca.
John Solimine, Halloween 2007, 2-color silkscreen, 9.5” x 25”
This is a scenario that is playing out in communities around
the world and mirrors the development of screen-printing
throughout history. Individuals pass information form one
person to another and from culture to culture each adding
their own personal twists and improvements before sending it along to the next group.
James Iannaccone graduated from Northwestern University
with a BA in Art History in 1999 followed by an internship
with the Terra Museum of American Art and a position
as a gallery assistant at the Judy A Saslow Gallery. He
is currently Assistant to the Director of Anchor Graphics
@ Columbia College Chicago.
Averill and Bernard Leviton
A+D Gallery
619 South Wabash Avenue
Chicago, IL 60605
312 344 8687
www.colum.edu/adgallery
Gallery Hours:
Tuesday – Saturday 11am – 5pm
Thursday 11am – 8pm
Billy Baumann
Nick Butcher
Mat Daly
Rob Doran
Dan Grzeca
Keith Herzik
Kathleen Judge
Dan MacAdam
Nadine Nakanishi
Jay Ryan
John Solimine
Diana Sudyka
Jason Teegarden-Downs
Steve Walters
Mat Daly, #1, 2007, monoprint, 26” x 40”
This exhibition is sponsored by the Art + Design Department at Columbia
College Chicago and is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts
Council, a state agency, and the Efroymson Fund, a CICF Fund.