Ink: Notes on the Contemporary Print

Introducing new column: Ink

Ellen Gallagher, "Wiglette" (detail) from "DeLuxe," 2004/2005. Photogravure and plasticine sheet: 13 x 10 inches. Image courtesy the artist and Two Palms Press.

With the advent of October, we are pleased to announce the latest column on the blog. Ink is a specialized medium-based column that will complement this site’s current content by providing a forum to discuss contemporary prints, printmaking, and book arts.  Posts vary in content, from in-depth interviews with master printers, artists, and curators to general discussion of the state of printmaking in contemporary art practice.  The column also includes reviews of selected new editions, exhibitions, and scholarly publications.  Though there is a special focus on New York, posts also highlight other centers for printmaking activity throughout the US, including Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Texas, Colorado, Kansas, Wisconsin, and New Mexico.

Ink is written by Sarah Kirk Hanley, an independent print curator and specialist appraiser. With over ten years of experience in the field, her knowledge of Western prints spans the Northern European Renaissance to the present.  As a specialist in Christie’s New York Print Department from 2006-09, Ms. Hanley was involved in business development, catalogue preparation and research, as well as insurance, gift tax and estate appraisals.  Prior to her auction experience, she was Associate Curator and head of the Prints, Drawings, and Photographs department at the Milwaukee Art Museum.  She has also held positions at the Lower East Side Printshop in New York and the John Michael Kohler Arts Center in Wisconsin. Ms. Hanley holds an M.A. in Museum Education from The University of the Arts in Philadelphia and a B.F.A. in Printmaking and Art History from the University of Iowa with Distinction/Special Honors.  She completed her graduate internship at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC and is a member of Phi Beta Kappa, ArtTable, and the Appraiser’s Association of America.