From December 9 through February 4, 2017 Coos Art Museum will be hosting a solo exhibition by the internationally acclaimed fine art printmaker Robert Kipniss. The exhibition opens with a free reception for the public at the Museum on Friday, December 9, 2016 from 5pm until 7pm. The exhibition which takes place in the Museum’s Perkins Gallery will feature prints in three different media, dry point, lithography and mezzotint. The exhibition will also include examples of the artist’s preliminary drawings and the copper printing plates.
Robert Kipniss, now 85 years of age, resides in Westchester County, New York and maintains a second home/studio in northwestern Connecticut. During his long career he has had over 50 museum exhibitions in some of the world’s major institutions including: The Harvard University Art Museum, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Los Angeles Museum of Art, The Art Institute of Chicago, and the British Museum. Of the works on display, nine are from the Permanent Collection of Coos Art Museum while the drawings, printings plates and six other works are on loan from the New York collector James F. White. The subjects of Kipniss’ works include austere limbs of trees in autumn and winter, spare modest houses of simple shapes, and still life. Though his architectural depictions hint at the present of human life, Kipniss’ works are devoid of people. His artwork explores the effect of light and shadow in muted tones. Kipniss said that he is trying to capture a moment, an atmosphere, a quickly passing experience, not just trees and houses. Kipniss works are an expression of order and permanence. The mezzotint technique which Kipniss uses to great effect involves burnishing a roughened printing plate to develop mid-tones and highlights. With the mezzotint technique Kipniss is able to capture a velvet-like range of tones that are characteristic of his works. We will have an example of both mezzotint and dry point plates on display.
