Racine Art Museum opens "Shades of Gray: Black and White Graphics from the Collection"

Luisa Chase, Black Sea, 1983 (detail). Woodcut, uneditioned. Racine Art Museum, Gift of Karen Johnson Boyd. Photo: Jon Bolton, Racine, WI.

RACINE, WI.- In the winter months of 2013, RAM is featuring a series of exhibitions that showcase work dominated by a black and white color scheme. Artists whose works are featured in these exhibitions limit the use of numerous colors, yet create dynamic and thought provoking compositions. Opened February 17 through May 12, 2013, Shades of Gray: Black and White Graphics from RAM's Collection features prints and artist's books dating from the early twentieth century to the present day. The show includes selections from Wisconsin and New York-based artists working with the federal government's WPA (Works Progress Administration) arts-based programs during the Great Depression in the 1930s. Shades of Gray presents landscapes, figural studies, abstractions, and stories told through both image and text. The works in this exhibition rely primarily on a palette of black and white. Narrowing the theme to these "colors," while allowing for a variety of subject matter from artists, past and present, offers the opportunity to look at both composition and content from a fresh perspective. Viewers are invited to explore formal elements as well as the symbolic and metaphoric potential of color. RAM has the largest craft collection in the United States, yet it also has a significant number of works on paper and artist's books. These holdings are historically important as prints and drawings from the WPA were some of the first gifts to the collection in the 1940s. Additionally, collecting and presenting work from artists who create meaningful statements in a number of media underscores RAM's intention to dispel differentiation between fine arts and craft. The collection has grown in all areas with works on paper comprising approximately half of the museum's 8,000 pieces. RAM at 10 | Growing America's Craft Collection This year marks the Racine Art Museum's 10th Anniversary in Downtown Racine. Visitors are invited to discover stunning exhibitions that shine a light on RAM's achievements over the past decade and predict an even brighter future. 

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Stuart Davis, Seine Cart, 1939. Lithograph, uneditioned. Racine Art Museum, Works Progress Administration, New York Federal Art Project. Photo: Jon Bolton, Racine, WI.