Rudy Pozzatti: Indiana's Printmaking Icon

The work of Rudy Pozzatti is well-known and loved. The man has been a legend in the print environs of the United States and beyond, but he has been revered in the state of Indiana, and the great town of Bloomington, Indiana; where he built a terrific print program at Indiana University, trained thousands of printmakers and teachers of the medium we all know and love.

I had occasion to work with Pozzatti one summer during my graduate internship at Indiana University's print shop. The late, great, Pegram Harrison was coordinator of the shop and it was a great training ground for printmakers, where they could gain practical experience working in the medium and have a chance to work with visiting artists. I had occasion to work on prints for Steven Sorman and David Shapiro at that time. I remember everyday Pozzatti would come in after having done his workout and before he would meet his good friend, IU's famed basketball coach, Bobby Knight for lunch. Pozzatti loved to tell stories and loved the interaction with the visiting artists. It was a great privilege to meet and work with him.

I was struck by several things about Pozzatti. His faith was visible in his life and his work. His love of making prints,his love for his family, and always challenging himself as an artist remain lasting impressions. He came into the room like a dynamo - always with a big smile and handshake. It would be hard not to be impressed by the man, but his artistic career was equally impressive.

Pozzatti's work has been shown and collected worldwide. He came from Colorado, and received his BFA and MFA degrees from the University of Colorado at Boulder. He taught at University of Nebraska and Indiana University, earning a Distinguished Professor of Art from the latter.

Pozzatti was fascinated with faith and the artistic expressions one can find in a place of faith - church. His studied domes of cathedrals and the stained glass windows of churches he visited. His drawing skills were accomplished, and his want to explore the print medium inspired countless others to do the same. There is little the man has not achieved in his lengthy career, but what transcends in his wrk is a searching for truth and an unquenchable thirst to keep making his art. We all should be so fortunate.

Grants
Ford Foundation, Tamarind Lithography Workshop, Los Angeles, CA
Ford Grant, Adachi Institute, Tokyo, Japan
Fulbright Grant, Italy
Guggenheim Fellowship, Creative Printmaking, Italy
N.E.A. Grant, Univ. of Missouri
U.S. State Department, Cultural Exchange to Soviet Union
U.S. State Department, Cultural Exchange visit to Yugoslavia
S.T.A.G., United States Information Agency, Washington, D.C.
Represented U.S. in International Cultural Exchange in Budapest, Hungary

Public Collections
Albertina Museum, London, England
Bibliotheque Nazionale, Paris, France
City Museum of Karlsruhe, Germany
Malmo Museum, Malmo, Sweden
Museum of Art, Sydney, Australia
Museum of Art, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada
Pushkin Museum, Moscow, USSR
Toronto Museum of Art, Toronto, Canada
Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL
Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA
Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati, OH
Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, TX
Dayton Art Institute, Dayton, OH
Evansville Museum of Art, Evansville, IN
Federico Castellon Memorial Collection, Columbia Univ. ,NY
Fine Arts Museum, Univ. of W. Virginia, Morgantown, WV
Fogg Art Museum, Boston, MA
High Museum, Atlanta, GA
Honolulu Academy of Art, Honolulu, HI
Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, IN
Iowa State Art Museum, Ames, IA
J.B. Speed Museum, Louisville, KY
Kalamazoo Institute of Art, Kalamazoo, MI
Library of Congress, DC
Los Angeles County Museum, Los Angeles, CA
The Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
National Gallery, Washington, DC
Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, PA
Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA
Roswell Museum and Art Center, Roswell, NM
Sheldon Memorial Art Museum, Lincoln, NE
Sheldon Swope Museum of Art, Terre Haute, IN
University of Louisville Print Collection, Louisville, KY
U.S. Offices and Embassies
Yale University Art Museum, New Haven, CT

Experience Susan Goldman's Exotic Moroccan Amphoras

The lush, densely patterned textures found in Susan Goldman's Amphora series are quite a sight to behold.

 Their amazing interplay between form and rich color and mark-making is reminiscent of a number of artists whose subject matter derives from the vessel - Giorgio Morandi and William Bailey, but her work also addresses the complexity of mark-making and are visually entertaining. In fact, part of the inspiration for this series comes from her exposure to north Africa and the incredible culture and rhythms of Morocco; its architecture, applied arts, and music. 

Goldman's work speaks also to the history of these forms which have been used for centuries to transport fish, grains, spices, oil and wine as a part of a tradition established to transport goods across the Mediterranean Sea. Goldman's amphoras don't liken themselves to containers, but her interest in the form is for the shape itself. Her compositions are full of tightly-compressed,  but not flattened spaces where the amphoras look as though they are floating in a sea of mark-making waves. Their visual relationship to Cubism is clear given the artist's display of them in a multi-dimensional space of hide and seek. 

The vessels' elongated necks and delicate handles are enjoyable to see, but it's her layering of the forms with patterned designs as seen in Morocco's Islamic buildings and applied arts that are create an intriguing dimension to the work. The image below suggests the viewer is looking through a screen in a harem  at an exotic interior. 

Likewise, a pleasant surprise in the piece below is an obscuring of the vessels' forms  for the clarity more often seen in her prints. One can feel from it feels rhythms of music and aromatic scents moving through the air. It also has a closer affinity with the work and colors of contemporary printmaker Karen Kunc, with whom Goldman has previously worked.

The infinity of geometric-inspired Islamic design patterns lend themselves well to Goldman's vessels and the multiculturalism of the Mediterranean. They become as timeless as the objects they derive from, but they are also a part of the present-day environment which anyone wanting to go print in Assilah should do so at their earliest opportunity.

Below is a view of the Mediterranean Sea at Assilah.

For more information about Ms. Goldman's prints contact at: goldmanprint@comcast.net

For information regarding Assilah's print center contact: Assilah International Cultural Moussem http://www.c-assilah.com

Some of Ms. Goldman's Activities and Awards:

Founder/Master Printer, Lily Press, Rockville, MD

Professor of Printmaking/Master Printer, Navigation Press, George Mason University, VA

2008  Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County Special Projects Grant

2005  Coordinator Southern Graphics Council International Conference “Power in Print”

2000  Artist-in-Residence, Assilah Foundation, Assilah, Morocco

Founder and co-curator since 1993 of The Art of Work, The Work of Art ©

1990 – 2000, Special Projects Coordinator, Master Printer, & Book Arts Fair Coordinator for Pyramid Atlantic

MFA - Arizona State University, in Printmaking

BFA -  Indiana University, in Printmaking, 1981