Passage | Curated by Alana Akacki

Albany Center Gallery is pleased to present a new exhibition Passage, a journey through prints, curated by Alana Akacki. Passage is a group printmaking exhibition that focuses on travel and memories. Artists include Annie Bissett, Joan Dix Blair, Thorsten Dennerline, Nancy Haver, Sarah Pike, Nori Pepe, Mary Ellen Riell, and Sandy Wimer. The exhibition will be on display at Albany Center Gallery from August 4 to September 1, 2017, and will open with a reception during First Friday on August 4 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m..

The work in this exhibition addresses elements of transportation, landscape and city scenes, documentation, and memories. Traveling is a combination of all these things. Some prefer to venture out alone in the world while others want to share their experiences with a group. It can be fun and exciting, but at times, stressful and worrisome. Technology (smart phones) have a way of deciding what's best for us to see and do, but sometimes it's thrilling to explore unfamiliar places and allow ourselves to drift away on a new, uncharted journey. This exhibition is meant to do just that—choose a destination, explore new territories, energize your mind—and create new memories through the print.

Printmaking is a versatile medium that allows artists to make multiple copies or single prints while experimenting with varying techniques. Methods of printmaking included in this exhibition are relief printing, intaglio, lithography, screen printing, and alternate techniques.

Joan Dix Blair works in woodcut and etching, using traditional techniques. Her work is primarily abstract, making suites of prints related to a single subject, often focusing on landscapes. Annie Bissett creates multicolor traditional Japanese woodblock prints that address important issues like climate change while using maps and contemporary issues as source material. Thorsten Dennerline creates unique artist books, weaving together poetry and printmaking to produce one-of-a-kind objects. Nancy Haver’s etchings are images of solitude and quiet spaces while exploring her sense of adventure through architectural forms and city landscapes—suggesting human activity, but devoid of it for the moment.

Nori Pepe recreates photographs she’s taken all over the world using wood and linoleum to create large-scale linocut prints. Sarah Pike reconstructs architectural interiors and landscapes to connect with the multi-sensory experience of place by using hand-printing and digital technology in her work. Mary Ellen Riell creates screen-prints using geometric forms that resemble familiar imagery like city blocks and color block quilts. Much of Sandy Wimer’s work comes from experimentation, usually with new print media techniques. Her prints combine text and photographic-like imagery that allows the viewer to feel a sense of nostalgia towards places they have visited or wish to in the future.

Passage is the second exhibition Alana Akacki has curated for Albany Center Gallery. The first exhibition, Whimsicality, was on display at ACG's old space at 39 Columbia Street in July 2013; we are pleased to welcome her back as the first non-ACG staff curator in the new gallery location. Akacki works full-time as the office manager at the University Art Museum, University at Albany and currently serves on the Exhibition Committee for Albany Center Gallery. She is an advocate of the visual arts in the Capital Region and beyond.

Passage is sponsored by Rosemarie Rosen, Renaissance Albany, NYSCA, and Wine & Dine for the Arts.