Dante in Philadelphia: Looking Back and Forward

Presented on Zoom

Join The Print Center for Dante in Philadelphia: Looking Back and Forward, a conversation celebrating Tom Powers’ giant woodblock prints from his “Inferno” series. Powers will discuss these prints, inspired by the cantos of Dante Alighieri’s Inferno, with artist Jane Irish and master printer Cindi Ettinger.

With symbolic imagery and hand-worked surfaces, Powers creates powerful landscapes that traverse the circles of sin, inviting viewers into a timeless journey through human fragility, its consequences and the hope of redemption.

Register for Zoom

This program is presented in conjunction with Dante in Philadelphia, an exhibition of six monumental relief prints by Tom Powers, presented in two venues during the month of November: 

Garden Loom J Irish Studio
737 N. 2nd Street
Philadelphia, PA 19123
janeirish.com 
On view November 7 – 23, weekends from 12 – 6pm and by appointment (drumwire@gmail.com)

C.R. Ettinger Studio
2215 South Street
Philadelphia, PA 19146
crettinger.com
On view Saturday and Sunday, November 15 – 16, from 1 – 4:30pm

Cindi Royce Ettinger (b. 1956) was raised in Rosyln, NY. She enrolled at the Philadelphia College of Art (later known as the University of the Arts), intending to study painting, but soon changed her major to printmaking, earning a BA in 1978. After graduating, Ettinger worked for two years in a New York print shop before returning to Philadelphia. She established the C.R. Ettinger Studio in Philadelphia in 1982. Working as a master printer for over four decades, Ettinger has collaborated on a diverse group of projects and has had studio exhibits both nationally and internationally. Today, C.R. Ettinger Studio specializes in intaglio and relief techniques.

Jane Irish has an extensive career as as artist. Her work has been exhibited at the Baltimore Museum of Art, MD; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX; the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN; Contemporary Arts Center, New Orleans, LA; and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia Museum of Art and ICA, all Philadelphia, PA. She has received recognitions from the Pew Fellowships in the Arts, the Joan Mitchell Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts as well as held residencies around the world. Irish is based in Philadelphia, utilizing an 1,100 square foot live/work artist’s space which was once a lingerie factory in Northern Liberties. She says, “Many artists my age in the city can offer these great spaces that are now centrally located. We believe in sharing the space for projects and exhibitions.”  Irish is represented by Locks Gallery, Philadelphia.

Thomas Powers (b. Connecticut) spent his formative years in Latin America. He has a BFA in painting from the Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore and an MFA from Queen’s College Graduate School of the Arts, Flushing, NY. His work has been exhibited in numerous galleries and museums including The Baltimore Museum of Art, MD; Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ; and Queens College and The Hudson River Museum, Yonkers, both NY. He currently lives in Mexico.