Carved Line

The Carved Line is about printmaking and printmakers in New Mexico over a significant period of time. It features block prints, including new works, by New Mexicos best known printmakers and brings to the forefront little-known artists deserving wide recognition and a place in New Mexicos art historical canon. A block of wood or linoleum, a gouging tool, ink, and paper are all that is necessary to produce a block print. Yet, the versatile qualities of the medium have captured the imagination of artists throughout the twentieth century and today. Art historian Josie Lopez draws on exhaustive research around the state, and takes a thematic approach toward block printmaking in New Mexico. Lopez considers the importance of place, movement, and culture. Of particular note is the influence of artists from across the United States and abroad who brought to New Mexico new artistic approaches to printmaking, introducing new ideas about art and artistic movements. Undeniably, the beauty and tensions within New Mexicos unique cultural landscapes and sacred spaces also have had a profound impact on the artists, both local and newcomers to the state, and their works. This beautiful volume includes over one hundred beautifully reproduced prints by internationally known New Mexico artists including Gustave Baumann, Willard Clark, Howard Cook, Betty Hahn, T.C. Cannon, Fritz Scholder, Frederick OHara, Adja Yunkers and previously unpublished works by other artists such as Tesuque Pueblo artist Juan Pino, Margaret Herrera Chavez, Tina Fuentes, Yoshiko Shimano, and Ruth Connely. The extraordinary block prints in this book shows the types of production, sociopolitical and cultural influences, and wide variety of subjects in New Mexico. The Carved Line accompanies a major exhibition at the Albuquerque Museum opening January 14, 2017.