Vija Celmins: Selected Prints

Opening May 26 and on view through June 26, The Drawing Room in East Hampton is pleased to present "Vija Celmins | Selected Prints," an exhibition of 12 works on paper that reflect the breadth of printmaking techniques the artist has employed over more than four decades.

Vija Celmins is internationally acclaimed for her repeated exploration and intense scrutiny of enduring subjects from the natural world. Comprehensive surveys of her graphic oeuvre have been featured in retrospectives at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2002 and the Vienna Secession in 2016. This show highlights the artist’s masterful use of wood engraving, mezzotint, drypoint and etching for images of the ocean surface, spider webs and starry skies.

In each of these mediums, Celmins’ primary focus has been the distinct potential that her materials bring to the challenge of translating an expansive visual experience onto a flat surface. Vistas that seem too vast or mercurial are re-interpreted and compressed on the two-dimensional plane. Reflecting on her commitment to the material aspects of her process, Celmins has commented, “I believe if there is any meaning in art, it resides in the physical presence of a work. Maybe all the meaning is just in the making."

See below for full press release and selected works.