Crown Point Press presents a winter group show, Grounded, on view from January 7 to February 25. It includes prints by eighteen artists who have worked at Crown Point Press over the years, and it encapsulates a variety of stylistic approaches and etching techniques. Artists in the exhibition are Tomma Abts, Darren Almond, Anne Appleby, William Bailey, John Chiara, Richard Diebenkorn, Leonardo Drew, Pia Fries, April Gornik, Mary Heilmann, Per Kirkeby, Julie Mehretu, Joan Nelson, Chris Ofili, José Maria Sicilia, Pat Steir, Patricia Treib, and John Zurier.

Art can aid us in finding peace and balance in tough times. In this exhibition, we focus on prints that encourage a sense of grounding, which involves being present in the moment and intentional in thoughts and actions. By grounding ourselves, we can move forward into 2021 feeling centered, despite setbacks.

Anne Appleby’s abstract color field prints offer a refreshing perspective on landscape. Appleby is an observer of nature, carefully watching plants and seasons change over time. Her paintings are built up from thinly applied layers of paint mixed with wax, creating a lustrous density. In her prints, the rich monochromatic tones are achieved through color aquatint. Quaking Aspen (2012), featured in the exhibition, is printed from sixteen copper plates, four layered in each square, each plate carrying a thin film of a precisely formulated color. The colors reveal the nuances of an aspen tree as the leaves change from spring green to fall red.

Julie Mehretu’s massive paintings investigate culture, social injustice, politics, and natural disasters. Gathering information from geographic maps, city plans, blueprints, newspaper clippings, and television, Mehretu analyzes patterns and behaviors to provide a contemporary perspective through abstract mark-making. Printmaking techniques such as hard ground etching and drypoint allow Mehretu to be physical and intentional with mark-making. Her large-scale etching Unclosed (2007) uses five plates to create complex layers of whirling marks and subtly-colored lines. Like a cosmic map, the immersive print has dense areas of collected marks as well as untouched, quiet spaces. Mehretu was quoted in our spring 2007 newsletter as saying:  “I have a desire to wipe away and reinvent. Everything becomes specks or smudges and has to be developed again.”

Chris Ofili’s paintings, which merge figuration and abstraction, capture the vibrant culture of Caribbean life. He lives in Trinidad, where he explores the island’s waterfalls and caves via kayak. When working in the Crown Point studio in 2008, one of the etchings he made, Last Night. New Day (2008), is a memory of the interior of a cave at the ocean’s edge. We can imagine Ofili’s kayak emerging from the dark cave and entering into a misty stream of sunlight. The title and imagery of his print can create for us a hopeful visualization for the new year. 

Grounded is on view in the Crown Point Gallery at 20 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, from January 7 to February 25. Crown Point Press is committed to limiting the spread of COVID-19 and keeping our staff and clients healthy. We are welcoming visitors to the gallery and bookstore by appointment. Please phone us at (415) 974-6273 or send an email to Valerie Wade to set up a time. Our hours are Monday-Friday, 9AM-5PM.