Bob Erickson and Keith Wilson
United States of America + Ireland
Etchings by Bob Erickson & Keith Wilson
Poem by William Lawlor
The Other Place, 2011
14.5" x 19.25", edition of 25
Poem by William Lawlor
The Other Place, 2011
14.5" x 19.25", edition of 25
Each artist made images that explore and investigate the natural environment in and around the other’s home. Bob Erickson lived in Amherst Junction, located in the glacial terrain of central Wisconsin. Keith Wilson lives in the rural Irish town of Ballinglen located on the north Atlantic coast. The prints are printed on Rives BFK paper, Kitakata and Goyu papers using photo-intaglio plates. Caren Heft and Tim Vermeulen at Arcadian Press designed the title page, poem, and colophon. Jill Jevne made the drop-spine box. The portfolio was printed in an edition of nine.
Bob cites the process of recollection and reflection as the basis of his works on paper. He begins in nature, tending to the full sensory experience of the surrounding Upstate New York woods. He then uses a host of manual and digital manipulation techniques to translate the traces of this experience into images on paper. His specter-like forms hover amidst the liminal space of his grounds, pointing back to the uncertainty of memory and the indelibility of impression. The mediation of memory exists both in Bob’s intellectual process and the medium of the work itself.
For many years Keith has created images of places and objects in response to his immediate surroundings in Ireland. The resulting drawings, paintings, and prints have related to very particular sites with personal significance, which are highly specific yet hopefully universal. He has consistently been involved in trying to capture the essence of a place and describing how one can retrace one’s footsteps, observe, and take time to think, often working “in series” to accentuate this notion of looking again and returning. The notion of creating a body of prints in collaboration with Bob was a great opportunity and a learning experience.
The images included in The Other Place portfolio are part of a selected group of prints made during an extended visit with Bob in rural Wisconsin and are evidence of exploring a new environment. They are examples of an ongoing investigation that represents a consistent interest in place over time.
Keith has taken part in many residency programs in Ireland, the UK, Europe, and the USA, which has led him to realize that one’s thought processes when away are similar to those at home, and enable him to investigate and remain aware of his environment. His latest work in Ireland has evolved from a process of moving back and forth between direct observation and studio practice. He is concerned with how we might find our bearings when we are away from home, the importance of finding one’s place, and of reacting to what is right on one’s doorstep.
He has noted that working alongside Bob helped him realize that “right on one’s doorstep” can indeed be on the other side of the world, too. He aims to make the everyday apparent, appreciated, and intriguing and is interested in a stillness and tranquility through his work, ignoring the spectacular, and getting closer to the more ordinary aspects of a particular setting.
about the artists
Bob Erickson is an American artist, and at the time this portfolio was created was a professor of art at UW-Stevens Point. He is now retired from teaching and is an independent artist living in Upstate New York.
His work has been shown nationally and internationally, including Dialogue with Yinchuan: China-America International Printmaking Exhibition 2016, Museum of Contemporary Art Yinchuan, Yinchuan, China; North, Gail Art Museum, Gapyeong, South Korea; North, View Art Center, Old Forge, New York; Art In Isolation: Printmaking in the Rural United States, Nordic Association of American Studies, Trondheim, Norway and Tartu, Estonia; Robert Erickson: New Hope, Elmhurst Art Museum, Elmhurst, Illinois; Robert Erickson: New Hope, Cervini Haas Gallery, Scottsdale, Arizona; Roots of Renewal, Faulconer Gallery, Grinnell College, Grinnell, Iowa; Robert Erickson; New Hope, Hiestand Galleries, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio; Prints, Pixels and Portals, Contemporary Artists Center, North Adams, Massachusetts; and 150 Years of Wisconsin Printmaking, Elvehjem Museum of Art, Madison, Wisconsin and Select3. Garvey/Simon Gallery, New York, New York. His work is part of the permanent collections of the Janet Turner Print Collection and Gallery, University of California-Chico, Chico, California; the Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery, Lincoln, Nebraska; the Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum in Mesa, Arizona; the Krannert Art Museum, Champaign, Illinois; and Ballinglen Arts Foundation, Ballycastle, Ireland. In addition, he has attended artist residencies including Studio Camnitzer in Valdottavo, Italy; the Blue Mountain Center, Blue Mountain Lake, New York; the Contemporary Artists Center in North Adams, Massachusetts; and Ballinglen Arts Foundation, Ballycastle, Ireland. He has been a visiting artist at numerous venues, including the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Wellesley College, Wellesley, Massachusetts; Illinois State University, Normal, Illinois; Miami University, Oxforn, Ohio; and Grinnell College, Grinnell, Iowa.
Bobericksonstudio.com
His work has been shown nationally and internationally, including Dialogue with Yinchuan: China-America International Printmaking Exhibition 2016, Museum of Contemporary Art Yinchuan, Yinchuan, China; North, Gail Art Museum, Gapyeong, South Korea; North, View Art Center, Old Forge, New York; Art In Isolation: Printmaking in the Rural United States, Nordic Association of American Studies, Trondheim, Norway and Tartu, Estonia; Robert Erickson: New Hope, Elmhurst Art Museum, Elmhurst, Illinois; Robert Erickson: New Hope, Cervini Haas Gallery, Scottsdale, Arizona; Roots of Renewal, Faulconer Gallery, Grinnell College, Grinnell, Iowa; Robert Erickson; New Hope, Hiestand Galleries, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio; Prints, Pixels and Portals, Contemporary Artists Center, North Adams, Massachusetts; and 150 Years of Wisconsin Printmaking, Elvehjem Museum of Art, Madison, Wisconsin and Select3. Garvey/Simon Gallery, New York, New York. His work is part of the permanent collections of the Janet Turner Print Collection and Gallery, University of California-Chico, Chico, California; the Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery, Lincoln, Nebraska; the Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum in Mesa, Arizona; the Krannert Art Museum, Champaign, Illinois; and Ballinglen Arts Foundation, Ballycastle, Ireland. In addition, he has attended artist residencies including Studio Camnitzer in Valdottavo, Italy; the Blue Mountain Center, Blue Mountain Lake, New York; the Contemporary Artists Center in North Adams, Massachusetts; and Ballinglen Arts Foundation, Ballycastle, Ireland. He has been a visiting artist at numerous venues, including the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Wellesley College, Wellesley, Massachusetts; Illinois State University, Normal, Illinois; Miami University, Oxforn, Ohio; and Grinnell College, Grinnell, Iowa.
Bobericksonstudio.com
Keith Wilson is a Northern Irish artist. He studied at the University of Ulster and at Edinburgh College of Art, Scotland, gaining an Honours Degree in Visual Communication and a further Postgraduate Diploma in Illustration. He divides his time between North Mayo and Belfast.
His many awards include the Axa Insurance drawing prize and the Hennessy-Craig Scholarship award, both at the Royal Hibernian Academy, Dublin. He has been the recipient of the Mayo County Council Bursary Award, shortlisted for the Golden Fleece Award in Dublin, and commissioned by The Gallery Press to produce a series of images to accompany Wayside Shrines by Irish poet Paul Muldoon. In 2018, he was the recipient of a major Pollock-Krasner Foundation grant. He has been Artist in Residence at the Royal Hibernian Academy, Dublin, the Tyrone Guthrie Centre, Ballinglen Arts Foundation and Artestudio Ginestrelle in Assisi, Italy, and has also been a returning visiting artist to the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design, and TASIS England. Keith has held numerous solo exhibitions, shown extensively throughout Ireland, and his work has been included in many group shows in the UK, Europe, and the United States. Exhibitions include Radharc at The American Irish Historical Society, New York; the Royal Academy’s Summer Exhibition in London; Le Logge in Assisi, Italy; and solo exhibitions at Oliver Sears Gallery, Dublin. His paintings and drawings are held in many public and private collections worldwide, including the collections of the Environmental Protection Agency; AXA Insurance; Allied Irish Bank; Arts Council of Northern Ireland; the National Self Portrait Collection of Ireland, Queen’s University Belfast; and the University of Wisconsin. He is a Member of the Royal Ulster Academy and a Fellow of the Ballinglen Arts Foundation. He is represented in Ireland by the Oliver Sears Gallery, Dublin.
www.keithwilson.co.uk
interview