The Southampton Arts Center will shine a spotlight on printmaking with two exhibitions set to launch on Saturday with an open portfolio session, a print press demonstration, a panel discussion, and a public reception. The driving force behind both shows is Dan Welden, widely regarded as a master printmaker.
“Solar Impressions” is a juried exhibition featuring more than 100 prints made by artists from around the world using the Solarplate process, which Mr. Welden invented in 1970. A Solarplate is a piece of steel with a light-sensitive polymer coating. One can draw on it, paint on it, or put a transparency on it. Wherever the sun hits the plate, it hardens. Unexposed portions of the plate can be dissolved by water.
“Instead of using acid, solvents, and grounds, you’re using sunlight and water,” Mr. Welden told The Star in a 2016 interview, “which happen to be environmentally friendly and safe for artists.” For years, he has conducted workshops around the world on using the process to make both intaglio and relief prints.
For “Solar Impressions,” more than 700 entries were judged by Laura G. Einstein, manager of the Mezzanine Gallery at the Metropolitan Museum of Art; Alex Ferrone, owner-director of the Alex Ferrone Gallery in Cutchogue, and Ron Pokrasso, an artist and printmaker from Santa Fe. Eric Fischl, the awards juror, selected over 40 winners who will be acknowledged on opening night.
“International Masters: Collaborations in Printmaking” will feature works made with Mr. Welden at Hampton Editions, Ltd., his Sag Harbor studio, by Willem de Kooning, Elaine de Kooning, Kiki Smith, Dan Flavin, Robert Gwathmey, Paul Davis, Roy Nicholson, Jack Youngerman, Louisa Chase, Lynda Benglis, Bill King, Jane Freilicher, Kurt Vonnegut, and many others.
Mr. Fischl has collaborated with Mr. Welden to produce a special Solarplate edition to benefit the arts center and Inspiration Plus, a nonprofit that is co-presenting the exhibitions. Of the 20 impressions, the first five will be available to SAC members on a first-come, first-served basis. Inquiries can be directed to [email protected].
Saturday’s programs will begin at 12:30 p.m. with an open portfolio session with exhibiting artists. A 3 p.m. print press demonstration and gallery tour with Mr. Welden and Mr. Pokrasso will be followed at 5 with a discussion among Ms. Ferrone, Ms. Einstein, and Mr. Pokrasso. The opening reception will take place from 6 to 8, and Mr. Welden will lead a free gallery talk on Sunday at 4 p.m.
The exhibitions will be on view through Dec. 29.