Printmaking is a dynamic and versatile form of artistic expression that bridges tradition and innovation. It allows artists to explore repetition, texture, and process while communicating powerful ideas and imagery. Through various techniques, printmakers harness the potential of line, form, and surface to captivate the viewer’s eye and convey meaning.
From the bold woodcuts of Albrecht Dürer to the experimental screen prints of Andy Warhol, printmaking has a storied history of pushing visual boundaries. Japanese ukiyo-e prints, with their refined linework and layered colors, influenced generations of Western artists. The etchings of Rembrandt revealed how deeply expressive a printed line could be, while the modern era saw artists using lithography and intaglio to blur the lines between fine art and reproduction. Today, contemporary artists continue to expand the definition of printmaking—combining analog and digital techniques, incorporating found materials, and challenging the notions of old.
The process-driven nature of printmaking invites exploration and innovation, making it a rich medium for storytelling, experimentation, and reimagining visual language. We invite artists working in traditional, contemporary, or hybrid forms of printmaking to submit works that demonstrate the transformative potential of this enduring art form.
Any original 2D and 3D artwork in any media will be considered. Works selected by the juror will be exhibited in Maryland Hall’s Earl Gallery from August 21 – September 25.
Keiji Shinohara was born and raised in Osaka, Japan. After 10 years as an apprentice to the renowned Keiichiro Uesugi in Kyoto, he became a Master Printmaker and moved to the United States. Shinohara’s nature-based abstractions are printed on handmade kozo paper using water-based pigment onto woodblocks in the ukiyo-e style–the traditional Japanese printmaking method dating to 600 CE. Though Shinohara employs ancient methods in creating his woodblock prints, he also diverges from tradition by experimenting with ink application and different materials to add texture to his prints. He personally executes all the steps involved in the printmaking process, from carving the woodblock to printing by hand. Elegantly understated, these works are a fusion of Japanese aesthetic and Western modernism.
Keiji Shinohara has been teaching 25 years at Wesleyan University in Middletown Connecticut and has been a visiting artist nationally and internationally over 100 venues and 40 solo show including DFN Gallery, New York, Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, Worcester Art Museum in Massachusetts, and Fresno Art Museum. He has received grants from the Japan Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts and his work is in many public collections, including the Legion of Honor in San Francisco, the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Fogg Art Museum at Harvard University, Milwaukee Art Museum, and the Library of Congress. He has given lectures at the Los Angeles County Museum Los Angeles, CA, Museum of Fine Art Boston, MA, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY, Arthur M. Slacker Gallery and Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution.
NOTE: Should Circle Gallery or any other exhibition space be closed for reasons beyond our control, MFA reserves the right to move a planned physical exhibit to our online gallery.
Watch the video below for a tutorial on how to upload your entries.
What is a submission?
One submission or application on artcall.org is the equivalent of one entry on MFA’s old entry system, or one piece submitted for jurying. Artcall.org uses the terms submission and application interchangeably.
How do I enter a video submission?
When submitting a video, you must put the link to the video in the Linked Web Resource field, and you must upload a screenshot of the video as an attachment.
Can I edit my submissions after I've submitted them?
Artcall.org requires you to select the number of submissions / applications you want to enter and to pay before entering in your image and image details. You can edit your submission details along with images you've attached up until the submission period is over. Once the submission period has ended, you cannot edit their entries in any form.
Can I add more submissions after I've paid?
You must submit a separate submission / application for each piece of artwork you wish to be shown to the juror. You have the option to add a second or third image of the same work to your submission / application as a detail photograph This is not required.
Have the entry fees changed at all?
The fees have changed but not drastically, 1 or 2 entries are $30. Up to 4 additional entries are $4.50 each. Entry fees are non-refundable.
Who is this exhibition open to?
We invite all artists residing in any of the states or territories of the US, Canada, or Mexico to enter this exhibition.
