Personal Perspectives from Tamarind
On View: February 11, 2011 – April 9, 2011
Friday, February 11, 2011 from 6:30 pm – 9:00 pm
Tour with Tamarind Director Marjorie Devon: Friday, April 8 at 6:30 PM
Highpoint is delighted to present this specially curated show of prints from the Tamarind Institute, based in Albuquerque, New Mexico. In this exhibition, curated by Tamarind’s Director Marjorie Devon, the artists portray humanity — metaphorically and literally. Contemporary artists, ranging from American greats such as Jim Dine and Lesley Dill to South American artists José Antonio Suarez Londoño and Alex Cerveny, convey the artists’ particular visions of themselves and the world around them in lithographs large and small; colorful and black and white. Now 50 years old, Tamarind Institute is renowned for teaching, producing and exhibiting lithography. HP’s Artistic Director Cole Rogers is a Tamarind certified Master Printer.
About Marjorie Devon: Marjorie is a founding member of Highpoint’s Advisory Board, has been Director of Tamarind Institute since 1985. During that time, she has made Tamarind’s presence felt around the world; she has lectured widely on topics related to American printmaking, curated exhibitions, and developed many special projects with artists that integrate social and artistic goals. Devon has edited three books and is the author, with Bill Lagattuta and Rodney Hamon, of Tamarind Techniques for Fine Art Lithography.
About Tamarind: Tamarind Lithography Workshop, Inc. (TLW) was founded in Los Angeles in 1960 as a means to “rescue” the dying art of lithography. Fully funded by the Ford Foundation until it became affiliated with the University of New Mexico in 1970, founding director June Wayne together with Associate Director Clinton Adams and Technical Director Garo Antreasian, established multiple long-range goals: to create a pool of master artisan-printers in the United States by training apprentices; to develop a group of American artists of diverse styles into masters of this medium; to habituate each artist and artisan to intimate collaboration to stimulate new markets for the lithograph; to plan a format to guide the artisan in earning his living outside of subsidy or total dependence on the artist’s pocket; to restore the prestige of lithography by actually creating a collection of extraordinary prints.
In 1970 TLW moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico, where it became Tamarind Institute, a division of the College of Fine Arts of the University of New Mexico, under the directorship of Clinton Adams who served in that capacity until 1985 when Marjorie Devon was appointed director.
Tamarind Institute continues its programs of education, research, and creative projects with partial funding from the university. Tamarind also depends heavily upon revenue from contract printing and the sale of lithographs it publishes to support the costs associated with its educational and artistic programs. Grants from a number of federal and philanthropic sources have funded the Institute’s many special projects, including a variety of international programs that have been developed over the past decade.
For more details, see “An Informed Energy: Lithography and Tamarind”, written by Clinton Adams, and published in Grapheion, 1st Issue 1997. (Prague, Czech Republic). Clinton Adams was a founding director of Tamarind Lithography Workshop, Inc. and Tamarind Institute’s director from 1970 – 1985. (text from tamarind.unm.edu)