Most artists are thrilled to have an exhibit of their work at an art gallery or a museum.
Arkansas' first artist laureate, Evan Lindquist, is being celebrated at five -- yes, five -- shows around the state this month. No wonder he is giddy as all get-out.
"Oh boy, it feels pretty great," says Lindquist from his studio, which is behind his Jonesboro home.
Shows of the printmaker and engraver's work are hanging at the Arkansas Arts Center, the Bradbury Gallery at Arkansas State University at Jonesboro, the Adams/Vines Gallery at Arkansas Northeastern College in Blytheville and the Sara Howell Gallery in Jonesboro.
The fifth, at M2 Gallery in Little Rock, opens with a reception at 6 p.m. Friday.
Lindquist, 78, who retired from ASU's art department in 2003, says he is a "full-time employee of my studio."
Still, why all the fuss?
It's about more than his symbolic role as state's artist laureate.
"Evan Lindquist shows the relevance of printmaking to the present day by integrating the traditional technique of engraving with a content that resonates with contemporary culture," Judith K. Brodsky, distinguished professor emerita at Rutgers University, wrote in the catalog for the ASU exhibition.
"So many artists who have been important figures in the history of art found printmaking to be the medium in which they experimented with new ideas and found expressive depths. Among them are Durer, Rembrandt, Goya, Degas, Manet, Cassatt, Gauguin, Kollwitz, Picasso. Lindquist carries on this tradition."
So yes, Lindquist is an important and influential artist in Arkansas and beyond. His engravings are in 71 permanent collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; the Arkansas Arts Center; the Boston Museum of Fine Arts; the Art Institute of Chicago; the Dallas Museum of Art and many others.
Mac Murphy, owner of M2 Gallery, says Lindquist's "intricate line work is unmatched.
"With engraving, you have to have an extreme technical mastery of the skill of engraving and your art. He's strong in both aspects."
Lindquist has created figurative and abstract works that range from portraits of the great masters of printmaking to satire, environmental commentary, dreamscapes and more.
"I always believe my creative imagination is whatever is going on around me and what I am thinking when I want to develop an idea," he says. "I'm inclined to work on anything that interests me; I won't work on it if I'm not. Everything in my head is creative ammunition."
The idea is just the starting point, he says.
Lindquist creates a sketch when he gets the idea, and it goes from there.
"There can be hundreds of sketches; tissue paper tracings on top of one another. I build the design that way.
"I may spend a month doing research; then I calculate what I am going to do on the copper plate. I never know what it will look like until I'm finished. Everything is trial and error."
Past printmakers, including an unnamed man from around 1420 who invented the printmaking/engraving process, also inspire Lindquist, who created a portrait series honoring these past masters. Lindquist says not much is known about the inventor of engraving -- even his name is lost in history -- but his motivation was to "make detailed playing cards."
While Lindquist says he is "so involved in my own creative work," he misses teaching. "I learned more from my students than they learned from me."
However, the artist has a new group of students -- he has a channel on YouTube with demonstrations of how he works.
But when he sits in his studio, Lindquist says, "I know this is what I was meant to do, what I want to do. I know I will find myself in this [copper] plate. This keeps me focused; I don't want to do anything else. I love engraving."
Art lovers are glad he does.
Details on the exhibitions:
• Alice Pratt Brown Atrium, Arkansas Arts Center, Ninth and Commerce streets, Little Rock
"Poet in Copper: Engravings by Evan Lindquist," through Oct. 26
Details: This exhibition of some 225 prints covers the breadth of Lindquist's career. The exhibition is part of the Acansa Arts Festival at venues around central Arkansas Sept. 24-28.
Lindquist will attend a reception at 5:30 p.m. Sept. 24 and present a talk about his works, his technique and career. Tickets are $20 at acansaartsfestival.org or by calling (501) 663-2287.
Gallery hours: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday
Information: arkansasartscenter.org, (501) 372-4000
• M2 Gallery, 11525 Cantrell Road, Little Rock
"Evan Lindquist: Laureate" opens with a reception at 6 p.m. Friday and hangs through Oct. 17.
Details: Prints from 1960-2012
Hours: 10 am.-6 p.m. Monday-Saturday
Information: (501) 225-6257, m2lr.com
• Bradbury Gallery, Arkansas State University, 201 Olympic Drive, Jonesboro
"Legacy: Works by Evan Lindquist" and "Selections From the Delta National Small Prints Exhibitions," both through Oct. 1
Details: The prints in "Legacy" were created in the past decade, since Lindquist's retirement.
"It's a wonderful continuation of what he has always done," says Les Christensen, gallery director. "He's a masterful engraver ... so precise. We are showing two series -- a historical series showing printmakers he's been inspired by and the Labyrinth series, which is largely landscapes and seascapes."
The Delta National Small Prints Exhibition is an annual juried print competition founded in 1996 by Lindquist. Prints in this show were chosen from the award winners in ASU's permanent collection.
Gallery hours: noon-5 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday, 2-5 p.m. Sunday
Information: (870) 972-2205, bradburygallery.com
• Adams/Vines Gallery, Arkansas Northeastern College, 2501 S. Division St., Blytheville
"Prints by Evan Lindquist," through Dec. 5
Details: 11 prints, including the Dreams and Memories series and a self-portrait.
Gallery hours: 9 a.m.-7 p.m. Monday-Friday
Information: (870) 762-3168, anc.edu
• Sara Howell Gallery, 405 S. Main St., Jonesboro
"Work by Evan Lindquist," through Oct. 17
Details: more than 100 works, older and newer pieces.
"We did a retrospective in 2010; we're revisiting that idea again," says gallery owner Sara Howell.
Gallery Hours: 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday-Friday
Information: (870) 935-6336, sarahowellgallery.net
Evan Lindquist's website is evanlindquist.com; his YouTube channel is youtube.com/lindquistprints
Style on 09/07/2014