JOE FAFARD In Print / Imprimer Joe Fafard, Sonny! Silkscreen on paper, edition 75/150 37.2 x 46.6 cm 1979 Education Guide Moose Jaw Museum & Art Gallery [email protected] TABLE OF CONTENTS CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS 1 PART I - INTRODUCTION 2-7 1. EXHIBITION ESSAY 2-4 2. INTRODUCTION TO: a. THE ARTIST 5 b. ART MEDIA 5-6 c. INSPIRATION 7 PART II – INTRODUCTION TO PRINTMAKING 8-9 1. BUILDING AN ART VOCABULARY 9 PART III – PRE-TOUR 9-14 1. FORMS OF PRINTMAKING 9 a. EMBOSSING 9-10 b. ETCHING 10-11 c. LITHOGRAPHY 11 d. SERIOGRAPH 12 e. SILKSCREEN 12-13 f. WOODBLOCK 13 2. ACTIVITY 14 PART IV – THE TOUR 14-18 1. FOCUS ATTENTION 14 2. INTRODUCE THE EXHIBITION 15 3. QUESTIONING STRATEGY 15 a. FIRST IMPRESSIONS 16 b. ANALYSIS 16-17 c. INTERPRETATION 17-18 d. CONTEXT 18 e. SYNTHESIS 18 PART V – ACTIVITIES 19-26 1. INTRODUCTION: HOW TO PRINT WITH A BRAYER (ROLLER) 19 2. MONOPRINTS WITH TIN FOIL 19-20 3. MONOPRINTS WITH GLASS OR PLEXIGLASS 21 4. LINOCUT PRINTS USING FOAM PLATES 22-23 5. LINOCUT PRINTS USING EASY BLOCKS 24-25 6. EMBOSS PRINTING 25-26 PART VI – MORE INFORMATION 27-48 1. BIOGRAPHY OF JOE FAFARD 27-28 2. CURRICULUM VITAE OF JOE FAFARD 28-38 3. LIST OF WORKS 39-44 4. RESOURCE MATERIAL 45 5. OSAC TOUR SCHEDULE 46 6. OSAC INFORMATION 47-48 PART VII – ADDITIONAL RESOURCES 49-52 1. ADDITIONAL HANDS-ON ACTIVITIES 50 2. PRE-TOUR ACTIVITY – QUESTIONS 51 3. KIT SAMPLES 52 Curriculum Connections Social Studies Farming in Saskatchewan Our Community Saskatchewan Artists Visual Arts Printmaking 1 | P a g e EDUCATION GUIDE – MJM&AG – OSAC TOUR Joe Fafard In Print/Imprimer PART I – Introduction 1. Essay Curated and organized by the Moose Jaw Museum & Art Gallery with funding assistance from the City of Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan Arts Board, SaskCulture, Saskatchewan Lotteries, and the Canada Council for the Arts. Internationally renowned, Joe Fafard is one of Canada’s most recognized and prolific artists. Although Fafard may be best known for his work in clay, bronze and steel sculpture, drawing and printmaking have been sustained curiosities of his throughout his artistic practice. Whether three-dimensional or two-dimensional, his work is characterized by his connection to his rural Saskatchewan roots, his reverence for art history and his inquiry into form. The exhibition In Print/ Imprimer presents a small survey of prints that Fafard has produced over the course of his career, focusing on the subject matter he is clearly known for – cows, horses and other domesticated farm animals - and features a variety of printmaking processes that he has experimented with from the 1980s to the present, including screen printing, embossing, lithography, etching and wood block printing. Drawing features prominently in this exhibition, from the build-up of form through markmaking, as in Calf Monet, to the reduction of form into line in the woodblock Rêve series, emphasizing how Fafard’s curiosity with drawing goes hand-in-hand with his exploration of form and illusion in space. Earlier serigraph images, like Sonny! and Piéta, created from a screen-printing process, reference Pop Art in their graphic aesthetic, while the lithograph August and serigraph Calf Monet, as the latter title suggests, reflect a more Impressionistic approach towards image making. Reduced to mere contours or outlines, the subjects in Joe’s Ark reflect Fafard’s masterful ease in capturing forms, gestures and movement with simple lines. Moving in varying degrees towards abstraction, the anatomy of the forms in the embossed and woodblock prints is broken down into pattern and embedded symbolic imagery. While the embossed images, Ophelia, Othello and Upstream, offer beautifully subtle forms, the Rêve woodblocks are arresting in their colourful 2 | P a g e EDUCATION GUIDE – MJM&AG – OSAC TOUR Joe Fafard In Print/Imprimer graphic quality. Reminiscent of Matisse’s paper cut-outs, these images have fluid, exaggerated and almost lyrical forms. Perhaps in their subtlety, these works speak to the interconnection and dependence of human existence on agriculture and nature. Domesticated farm animals have been a significant focus of Fafard’s artistic inquiry, providing the perfect architecture for his investigation into form. They are his means of connecting to his roots and expressing the concerns of his time. They are metaphors, political statements, art historical references and objects of humour and delight. Whether in sculpture or drawing and printmaking, Fafard’s commitment to his inquiry info form and his ease in transitioning from one medium to another is truly inspiring. Internationally acclaimed artist Joe Fafard was born to French-Canadian parents in the community of Ste. Marthe, Saskatchewan. He received a BFA from the University of Manitoba in 1966 and a MFA from Pennsylvania State University in 1968. He served on the faculty of Fine Arts at the University of Regina from 1968- 1974 and was a visiting lecturer at the University of California at Davis in 1980-1981. His work has been exhibited and included in public and private collections worldwide. Fafard is widely recognized as being at the forefront of his art and his outstanding contributions to the arts have significantly raised the profile of both Saskatchewan and Canada on the national stage. From 2007 to 2009, a retrospective of his work was organized and toured nationally by the National Gallery of Canada and the MacKenzie Art Gallery. Joe Fafard has been honoured with many awards over the span of his career, including the Order of Canada (1981), Saskatchewan Order of Merit (2002), Saskatchewan Arts Board Lifetime Achievement Award (2007) and an Honorary Doctorate degree from the University of Saskatchewan (2012). His work is represented by Slate Fine Art Gallery (Regina, SK), Darrell Bell Gallery (Saskatoon, SK), Mira Godard Gallery (Toronto, ON), Galerie de Bellefeuille (Montreal, QC), and JV Gallery (online). Internationally renowned, Joe Fafard is one of Canada’s most recognized and prolific artists. Although Fafard may be best known for his work in clay, bronze and steel sculpture, drawing and printmaking have been sustained curiosities of his throughout his artistic practice. Whether three-dimensional or two-dimensional, his 3 | P a g e EDUCATION GUIDE – MJM&AG – OSAC TOUR Joe Fafard In Print/Imprimer work is characterized by his connection to his rural Saskatchewan roots, his reverence for art history and his inquiry into form. The exhibition In Print/ Imprimer presents both woodblock and embossed prints of cows, horses and bison, each series a response to or an extension of his laser-cut sculptural process. While the embossed images offer beautifully subtle forms, the woodblocks are arresting in their colourful graphic quality. Reminiscent of Matisse’s paper cut-outs, these images have fluid, exaggerated and almost lyrical forms. Moving in varying degrees towards abstraction, the anatomy of these forms is broken down into pattern and embedded symbolic imagery. Perhaps in their subtlety, these works speak to the interconnection and dependence of human existence on agriculture and nature. 4 | P a g e EDUCATION GUIDE – MJM&AG – OSAC TOUR Joe Fafard In Print/Imprimer 2. Introduction to: a. The Artist Joseph Hector Yvon Fafard was born September 2, 1942 in Ste. Marthe, which is a small farming community in Saskatchewan. He was the sixth child of twelve, and was brought up in a large Roman Catholic family. His father Léopold was a farmer. The family spoke only French until they attended school. b. Art Media Joe started out as a clay artist and through his lengthy career has branched out onto other mediums such as metal in bronze casting and laser cut sculptures. This work is more recognized as he has created a number of sculptures that are outdoor public sculptures which are seen across Canada. This exhibition reflects his drawing abilities and highlights the artist’s diversity in other art forms. Clay s culpture The artist forms a sculpture by hand from a block of clay Laser cut steel sculpture Using a laser to cut aluminum sheets from a drawing created by the artist From the MacKenzie Art Gallery Collection 5 | P a g e EDUCATION GUIDE – MJM&AG – OSAC TOUR Joe Fafard In Print/Imprimer Bronze casting An intense process that changes a clay sculpture into metal. Mold that is made from clay sculpture The mold is pieced together and prepared to have liquid metal poured inside Finished art piece Royal Sweet Diamond on Georgia Street, Vancouver, BC 6 | P a g e EDUCATION GUIDE – MJM&AG – OSAC TOUR Joe Fafard In Print/Imprimer c. Inspiration In the title “In Print/ Imprimer,” the word inprimer is French for word “to print”. Joe Fafard is a prolific artist who works in many different art forms. As a printmaker you can see that in his work as he explores serigraphs, silkscreen, lithograph, etchings, woodblocks and embossing. His subject matter goes back to his rural, farming background and continues to live on a farm to this day. Joe Fafard’s sculptures are a direct inspiration for his prints. When you look at work like Upstream, the raised surface comes from the metal version which he presses into the surface of damp watercolour paper. You can notice this in some of his other prints which are inspired by metal work. http://www.azquotes.com/author/55621-Joe_Fafard 7 | P a g e EDUCATION GUIDE – MJM&AG – OSAC TOUR Joe Fafard In Print/Imprimer PART II – Introduction to Printmaking There is some confusion around the term original print in today’s world. Technology has brought artists many new opportunities to exploit commercial printing devices. Faced with the financial limitations of producing one of a kind images, artists are having those images photo reproduced by commercial printers.