The Wright Prepares for ‘Personal to Political’ Exhibition

Starting Dec. 19, The Wright Museum will host “Personal to Political” featuring the work of Paulson Fontaine Press artists, all African American or of African descent and tackling themes like race, self, identity and politics.

San Francisco Bay Area-based Paulson Fontaine Press’ specialty is intaglio prints, created by incising an image into a material – like metal or coated paper – and then depositing ink into the sunken areas so that it sits below the surface.

Assistant curator of collections and exhibitions Jennifer Evans says, “When you come to this exhibit you learn about this printing style. You learn that printing is an art in and of itself, and then you also learn how artists who specialize in all different areas – even some sculptors – have learned this printing style and then have created this unique work that’s now traveling.”

Organized by the Bedford Gallery in Walnut Creek, California, the traveling exhibition will feature the work of 14 artists including Kerry James Marshall, Lava Thomas and David Huffman, whose pieces, in part, address the Watts riots, black hair and Afrofuturism respectively. Plus, discover quilts by the Gee’s Bend Quilters, an African American collective of rural Alabama women quilters whose artisanship dates back to the 1920s.

“Our hope,” Evans says, “is always to talk about the history, but to make it contemporary and meaningful and relevant to today. And so, this exhibit really does that with these 14 contemporary artists who are learning this traditional style of printing, and they’re learning how to create new works that are relevant now.”

Dec. 19-April 5, 2020