John Armstrong On Printmaking & His New Work at the Missoula Art Museum

By Alexia Beckerling, 4-07-09

This Spring, Master Printer John Armstrong is showing “Engaged Abstraction”—twenty-one new works—at the Missoula Art Museum’s Faith Pickton and Josephine Aresty Gallery.

In this multimedia piece, produced by Alexia Beckerling for the museum, Armstrong explains his process and his inspiration. Click the image to play.

From the exhibit:

“The twenty-one works to be featured in this solo exhibition were selected from Armstrong’s recent body of work by MAM Exhibitions Curator Stephen Glueckert. These works bring to the forefront the artist’s sensitivity, intuitive color sense, consistent instinct for compositional resolution, and ever present spirit of experimentation. Raised in Laurel, MT, with nine siblings, Armstrong has worn many hats in the art world, both inside and outside of Montana. In addition to being a professional artist, he has been an arts administrator, art educator, businessman, museum board member, press manufacturer, master printer, artist facilitator, designer, installer, and collaborator. His renaissance approach to the art world is rare in this time of specialization. The exhibition is accompanied by an exhibition catalogue highlighting an artist interview. Visit missoulaartmuseum.org for more information.”

“Engaged Abstraction” runs at the MAM through May 23. Click here for more information.

Also showing at the Faith Pickton and Josephine Aresty Gallery through May 23 is the “Prints from the Armstrong-Prior Studio” exhibit, which “features over forty-five works by different internationally acclaimed artists who have used the Armstrong-Prior Print workshop in Phoenix, Arizona, and have relied heavily on John Armstrong’s expertise in producing this work. Armstrong’s collaborative approach to printmaking is one of the characteristics highlighted by the Armstrong-Prior Inc. Archives. The works were selected from the Archives by MAM Exhibitions Curator Stephen Glueckert and include works by Rudy Autio, Philip Curtis, Dorothy Fratt, Karen Jilly, Virgil Ortiz, Vernon Patrick, Akio Takamori, and Patti Warashina.”