A Wry Eye: Witty, Sardonic and Ironic Work by Contemporary Printmakers

Exhibition

Stephen Goddard, curator

Gallery 317, Spencer Museum of Art, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas

A Wry Eye features a selection of prints, drawings and sculpture by a small group of printmakers who have navigated the turbid waters of wit, irony, and (with a furrowed brow) humor. A large part of the exhibition will be devoted to Jim Dine's recent works that deal with the psychologically complex Pinocchio figure, all of which were recently donated to the Spencer Museum of Art by the artist. Among the other works exhibited are Joyce Treiman's 1961 lithographic suite, The Mirrored Couple, the twelve lithographs that constitute Kiki Smith's Banshee Pearls, and several works by William Wiley. Common to these and the other exhibited works are elements of self-scrutiny, playfulness with a dash of the sinister, and wit with a sense of danger.