4 Artists Select Their Must-Have Editions at IFPDA Print Fair 2023
Interior view of IFPDA, 2022. Courtesy of IFPDA.
Opening in the midst of a busy month of art fairs, the International Fine Print Dealers Association (IFPDA) Print Fair is poised to make its own remarkable imprint on the art world this year. Kicking off on October 26th at New York City’s Javits Center, the four-day event marks the fair’s 30th anniversary.
Every year, the IFPDA Print Fair distinguishes itself from its peers through a diverse selection of artwork, from rare works by Albrecht Dürer to prints by ultra-contemporary artists like Didier Williams and Torkwase Dyson.
Commemorating three decades, this year’s fair hosts an impressive roster of more than 90 exhibitors from seven countries, showcasing over 550 years of printmaking. Among them, David Zwirner, one of the IFPDA’s newest members, will return to the fair to present new selections from Hayley Barker and Cynthia Talmadge. Additionally, Hauser & Wirth will present work from Rita Ackermann, Ida Applebroog, Rashid Johnson, and Louise Bourgeois.
Contrary to the current ebb and flow of the broader art market, the print domain is witnessing a notable ascent, as recently reported by Artsy.
To help navigate the impressive showcase of prints and editions on view at the fair, we asked four artists—Ana Benaroya, Richard Dupont, Ethel Shipton, and Tanekeya Word—to share the prints that stole their attention.
Ana Benaroya
Ana Benaroya, known for her paintings of muscle-bound women, creates art in opposition to the male gaze. Her vibrantly colored portraits—inspired by hypermuscular comic superheroes—reclaim standards of desire, sensuality, and appearance. Her work is featured in the Beth Rudin DeWoody Collection, the Hall Art Foundation, the Alex Katz Foundation, and many more.
Here are Ana Benaroya’s top picks at IFPDA Print Fair 2023:
Edward Hopper, Evening Wind, 1921
William P. Carl Fine Prints, Booth 403
Edward Hopper, Evening Wind, 1921. Courtesy of William P Carl Fine Prints.
“This is a gorgeous, striking image. You can almost smell the cool wind blowing into her bedroom. I have so many questions about who she is—and is she getting into bed alone? That you can’t see her face just adds to the intrigue.”
Cecily Brown, The Five Senses (Sight), 2023
Two Palms, Booth 100
“This etching captures so wonderfully the chaos of a studio and that of an artist’s mind. It is unclear what and who is muse—and what is painting or sculpture or a figment of the imagination. I personally also love the balance of dark tones, greys, and whites in this image.”
Jane Dickson, Hot Girl, 1994
Solo Impression, Inc., Booth 512
Jane Dickson, Hot Girl, 1994.Courtesy of Solo Impression, Inc.
“I’m such a fan of Jane Dickson’s work, and this monoprint is just perfect. The texture of both the woman’s skin and the background almost looks like it could be snakeskin, and the fuzzy out-of-focus nature of the image somehow makes it more sexy. The subtle green speckles in the background make all the warm colors in this print sing.”
Richard Dupont
Born in 1968, Richard Dupont’s examinations of technological progress span sculpture, drawing, digital animation, painting, printmaking, and photography. As a pioneer in digital art, his artwork delves into the intricacies of identity and the human form. His sculptures employ body-scan technology to create polyurethane figures of himself. Indicative of his practice, he manipulates the replicas to challenge self-perception directly.
Here are Richard Dupont’s top picks at IFPDA Print Fair 2023:
Edgar Degas, Les Saules – Willow Trees, ca. 1877–80
C.G. Boerner, Booth 504
Edgar Degas, Les Saules – Willow Trees, ca. 1877–80. Courtesy of C.G. Boerner LLC.
“With a lot of great historical material at this year’s fair, I can’t help but gravitate towards an example from the past. Degas’s Les Saules - Willow Trees from ca. 1877–80 at C. G. Boerner is a radical monotype for the period. His restless experimentation with the process continues to offer possibilities for artists today. The monotype exists in a space between the immediacy of drawing and the alchemy of the transferred image.”
“For recent prints, Tamarind Institute is showing new large-scale lithographs by two painters who deftly synthesize the abstract and the representational: Henni Alftan and Ellen Berkenblit.”
Ethel Shipton
Known for her fascination with urban scenes, Texas-based Ethel Shipton explores how language and information are processed in everyday life. Her work, including painting, installation, photography, and text, examines time to uncover passing moments, originally created as a mural made entirely from tape over several weeks. Her meticulous focus on what many deem ordinary offers a fresh perspective on the status quo.
Here are Ethel Shipton’s top picks at IFPDA Print Fair 2023:
LaToya M. Hobbs, Unbothered, 2023
Black Women of Print, Booth 400
“I love the grace of seeing this woman in her place of peace. The line work of the woodcut gives the piece this movement of life that’s just wonderful.”
Ed Ruscha, Rusty Signs - Dead End 2, 2014
Mixografia, Booth 212
“I have an affinity for signage, and ‘DEAD END’ speaks so much to the condition the world is feeling these days. The addition of the rust element only adds to the texture of the words ‘DEAD END.’”
César A. Martínez, Serape Pirulí, 2023
Ruiz-Healy Art, Booth 409
“The way Martinez takes a cultural domestic object like the Serape and turns it into an abstraction is fantastic.”
Tanekeya Word
Born in Mississippi in 1983, Tanekeya Word explores the lives of Black women and girls through various mediums, including drawings, paintings, narrative forms, and fine art prints. Word founded Black Women of Print in 2018, promoting the visibility and advancement of Black women printmakers. Most recently, she showcased her experimental prints, which feature fantastical depictions of young Black women, in a group show at Pentimenti Gallery, “Rekindled Promise.”
Here are Tanekeya Word’s top picks at IFPDA Print Fair 2023:
Meleko Mokgosi, Spaces of Subjection: Imaging Imaginations IV, 2022
Anderson Ranch Arts Center, Booth 225
Meleko Mokgosi, Spaces of Subjection: Imaging Imaginations IV, 2022. Courtesy of Anderson Ranch Arts Center.
“In Spaces of Subjection: Imaging Imaginations IV (2022), Meleko Mokgosi visually simulates the performance of episodic memories: The opacity and translucency of ink echoes the act of easily grasping onto present events to relocating those distant lived experiences or calling forth imaginations.”
Alison Saar, Hot Comb Haint: Mona, 2023
Mixografia, Booth 212
“Mixografia leads the printmaking field with [its] unique techniques developing textures and dimensionality on paper. Alison Saar’s Hot Comb Haint: Mona (2023) is beautifully rendered through the 2D wood grain texture which mirrors her sculptural works. The luminosity of the brass hot comb summons the collective childhood memories of Black girls who held their ears as the rhythm of: grease, sizzle, steam and the smell of Blue Magic hair prepared them for the world of respectability politics.”
Torkwase Dyson, Metamorphosis 3, 2023
Paulson Fontaine Press, Booth 216
Torkwase Dyson, Metamorphosis 3, 2023. Courtesy of Paulson Fontaine Press.
“Liberation is often visually represented through figuration; however, Torkwase Dyson’s Metamorphosis 1-4 (2023) is an abstraction of how Black bodies are historically marked and how Black people navigate spaces—the built environment, power structures, and ecologies. Through Black Imagination, Dyson offers possibilities of forming meaning beyond marginalization. Her compositions, markmaking, and awareness of space, as she brings her entire being into the process of creating the plates for these prints, is a subaltern map to Black liberation.”
