Fanny Retsek
ABOUT THE ARTIST
The 2020 Director’s Circle artist is Master Printmaker, Fanny Retsek, formerly a printer at Crown Point Press in San Francisco, one of the nation’s foremost print shops in the revival of the etching process. Fanny is also the founding Director of the former Print Center at the San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art. She was recently named as one of SVCreates 2020 SVArtist Laureates. This competitive program honors the finest regional artists showcasing outstanding artistic and community contributions.
Fanny Retsek combines printmaking with drawing, collage and stitching. Some of her pieces use the multiple of print to create larger-scale installations. Her work focuses on animal rights, species decline, and the cohabitation of humans and wild animals. She exhibits internationally and her prints are included in the collections of Fine Art Museums, San Francisco, Oakland Museum of Art, and the Corcoran in Washington DC. Her work has received honors, including an award from the curator of prints and drawings at the Chicago Art Institute. She received her MFA from San Jose State University. In addition to her own studio art practice, Fanny has worked as a professional master printer collaborating with artists on print projects. She is the Adult Studios Program Director at the Palo Alto Art Center.
“I like to think of my work as traditional printmaking with radical intent. By drawing the glimpses of the natural environment and wild animals left in and around cities, suburbs and towns I recognize that they are vital to the ecosystem and recovery of our planet. I hope to inspire people to stop thinking of wildlife as pests to be exterminated and instead welcome the wild back into our daily lives. If this became a universal change in behavior and outlook, it could be a vital step towards arresting the sixth extinction and lead to a balanced world where all lives matter and the earth is not ours to pillage and plunder.”
About this 2020 Director’s Circle print:
Fanny Retsek
2020
Etching with monotype and chine collé
Image: 9 x 11.75 inches
Paper: 17 x 19.75 inches
2020
This print was made in the late summer and fall of 2020 as wildfires ravaged the west, the pandemic continued to surge around the world, and in the United States the presidential election loomed.
All images and artwork © New Museum Los Gatos. Do not use without permission.
