Isthmus' Chelsey Dequaine writes about Frank Stella's visit to the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, where a show of his "fantastical" prints opened on February 5th. Frank Stella Prints: A Retrospective features over 100 prints, most from the collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer and his Family Foundation. It is the artist's first major print retrospective since 1982.
Stella is known for advancing the history of abstraction through paintings, metal reliefs, sculptures and prints. The exhibition includes a broad survey of his work, and it is the occasion for the publication of Frank Stella Prints, a revised and expanded second edition of The Prints of Frank Stella: A Catalogue Raisonné, 1967–1982 (New York: Hudson Hills Press, 1983), which was produced by Curator Rick Axsom and published by the Jordan Schnitzer Family Foundation in association with MMoCA.
At the opening reception, Frank Stella talked about his print works: “The prints are not the same. That’s what helps them. People can do things and work on things at both ends in the etching and papermaking. All of those things begin to need each other and everything comes together in a dramatic way.”
Jordan Schnitzer reflected on the first time he saw a Stella print: “I was overwhelmed. His work has pushed dimensions in ways that have never been done before.”
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