Pictured above: Gaylord Schanilec, “Pelecanus erythrorhynchos,” wood engraving, 2015.
The Eide/Dalrymple Gallery at Augustana University opens “Man Before a Mirror: Gaylord Schanilec,” which will be on view from Thursday, March 20, through Wednesday, April 16. A gallery reception will be held on Friday, March 21, from 7-9 p.m., with a slide lecture by the artist at 7:30 p.m.
"Man Before a Mirror” brings to Augustana internationally renowned printmaker, illustrator and book artist Gaylord Schanilec. The exhibition includes both framed works of handprinted images and the final bound fine press books. The books are their own art objects, from their covers and enclosures to their oversized foldout pages of handmade paper. For example, on view is Schanilec’s deluxe edition letterpress book, Mayflies of the Driftless Region (2005). The book’s enclosure includes a case with eight mayflies mounted onto fishing hooks, suggestive of both Schanilec’s methods of capturing the delicate creatures from which he made his drawings and engravings, as well as entomology’s practice of observation, classification and display of specimens. Ultimately, Schanilec’s work is a celebration of the intricate detail of nature — its individuality and abundance.
Visitors to the gallery will also experience Schanilec’s striking hanging scrolls, “nature prints,” created from the impressions of trees that he felled and prepared from his property. The installation includes two groupings: the titular “Man Before a Mirror,” and “The Burghers of Schanilec Lane.” The latter is a grouping of six scrolls inspired by Auguste Rodin’s sculpture, “The Burghers of Calais,” that memorialized six civic leaders who gave themselves up to be executed in order to save their town. Schanilec had returned to his Wisconsin home after a several years’ absence to find that the cherry trees he had originally planted on the property had died. After pulling the trees from the ground, he sliced them and created printing blocks. “My thought,” states Schanilec, “was they had given themselves up so that my Wisconsin home was still there when I returned.” Each tree print captures a personality of Rodin’s martyrs, from anguish to resignation, stoicism and even unshakeable belief and joy. The work is displayed with the scrolls’ case, a casket also crafted by Schanilec.
“The amount of skill, attention, labor and time that goes into every work and book is mind boggling,” noted Augustana Eide/Dalrymple Gallery Director Dr. Lindsay Twa.
Schanilec is described as a “natural philosopher” who studies and describes the natural world through intense physical inquiry and direct observation. Schanilec grew up hunting and fishing along the Red River in North Dakota. After earning an undergraduate degree, Schanilec moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota, to become an illustrator and was introduced to wood engraving. He began acquiring printing equipment and founded his own press, Midnight Paper Sales, in 1980. Based in Stockholm, Wisconsin, he has published more than 25 books under his imprint, along with numerous commissions, including The Gregynog Press in Wales and Grolier Club of New York.
Schanilec’s career encompasses the American book arts renaissance that began in the 1970s, using handset type and letterpress printing along with his own carved wood engravings to create books in limited editions. He is particularly known for his color wood engravings, where every color down to its minute detail is hand carved into the end grain of separate wood blocks — one block for every color. Schanilec’s imagery is derived from the classic tradition of scientific illustration; yet he married his careful and highly naturalistic observations with other images that are printed directly from organic objects — foremost plants and sectioned samples of trees — to create expressive images.
“In an age where digitization seems to make everything instant, Schanilec asks us to slow down. And, in doing so, we understand the individuality of each tree, insect, plant and geographic place that he brings before us. As Gaylord Schanilec noted in his artist statement, ‘Time. It is all about time. Taking the time. Using your hands and your mind at the same time while thinking about it — whatever it is.’ When spending time this way, one can't help but bring one's heart into it, and I think that is what we're after,” Twa said.
As a part of this exhibition, Schanilec will visit Augustana art classes and present an artist slide lecture, which will be free and open to the public. This program is funded in part by the Augustana Mellon Fund.
About the Eide/Dalrymple Gallery
As a part of Augustana University, the mission of the Eide/Dalrymple Gallery is to contribute to the educational and cultural vitality of the university, surrounding community and state of South Dakota. The Eide/Dalrymple Gallery inspires the artists of today and tomorrow, and serves as a resource for teaching and promoting life-long learning through its permanent collection and temporary exhibition program with accompanying artist visits, gallery talks and educational materials.
The Eide/Dalrymple Gallery is named after Palmer Eide and Ogden Dalrymple, pioneering Augustana professors emeriti of art. Many of their collaborative works are spread throughout the campus.
The Eide/Dalrymple Gallery is located at 30th Street and Grange Avenue, in the Center for Visual Arts at Augustana. The gallery is open to the public and free of charge. Gallery hours are Monday through Friday, from 10 a.m. - 5 p.m., and Saturdays, from 1-4 p.m.