Richard Black

August Song One

lithograph, 18" x 12", 1980

$200.00, series of three

Printed by Plucked Chicken Press, Chicago

Published by the Lakeside Studio, Lakeside, Michigan

Richard Black is a highly regarded printmaker who has made a significant contribution over the years to the arts in Iowa. For thirty years he was a professor of art at Drake University where he founded the Drake University Biennial Print Symposium. The symposium brought nationally known artists to the state to demonstrate and lecture on the art of printmaking. Black himself has been the subject of a one-person exhibition at the Des Moines Art Center and has been honored with the DRAKE AWARD for excellence in teaching and artistic achievement. Black's works are included in many museum collections and have been shown in invitational and competitive exhibitions all over the country.

Using the intaglio process, Black creates prints that have a collage-like feeling. Tightly rendered textures and color patches are layered and structured to create overall pattern. The work appears to be abstract, but when closely examined recognizable forms sometimes emerge. These images are enigmatic and are woven into the intricacy of the print, there for the viewer to decipher. Black's works are often inspired by tales and interpretations from The Old Testament.