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| John Risseeuw, Dizzy's Busy |
What: Open House with John Risseeuw
When: Friday, March 1, informal talk by the artist starting at 11:00 a.m. during a come-and-go open house from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Where: P.R.I.N.T Press, Oak Street Annex, 1120 West Oak Street, Denton, Texas 76201 (Google map) (UNT campus maps and visitor information)
John Risseeuw's visit to UNT is co-sponsored by Core Design / Core Talk, Fibers, the UNT Fine Arts Series, and P.R.I.N.T Press.
The history of the arts is of creative individuals responding to crisis and to their cultural environments. As a concerned citizen, John Risseeuw continually brings his knowledge of the world into his art. Over four decades, his art has touched on political and social themes, including political corruption, equal rights, environmental abuse, fascism, illegal wars, arms proliferation, economic justice, and sheer idiocy. Some prints are prompted by more current political fears, observations, and anger, but all are executed in a journalistic sense; the artist as witness. His current work utilizes letterpress and relief, often on handmade paper, producing prints and artist books. To Risseeuw, art is a dynamic process of research and exploration; Efforts are made to not duplicate what has been done before, by himself or by others.
John Risseeuw, Professor of Art at Arizona State University, teaches printmaking, book arts, and papermaking and directs Pyracantha Press, book arts imprint of ASU. His prints, books, and collaborative artworks have been shown in over 400 exhibitions and collected widely. In 2009, the Library of Congress purchased an archive of John's work on paper and this year acquired all books from his Cabbagehead Press. He is founding president of the College Book Art Association and has spoken at conferences in the U.S., Australia, Canada, England, Italy, Finland, Netherlands, and Philippines. Recent prints on handmade paper about landmines and war detritus generate fundraising for agencies that assist mine victims and mine clearance.
