Suzi Davidoff: Vanishing Avians

October 24 - November 30,2020

To register for the November 14 online artist talk, go here. From Flatbed Center for Contemporary Printmaking: "Flatbed Center for Contemporary Printmaking is proud to present Vanishing Avians, an exhibition of drawings and monotypes by Suzi Davidoff.  Davidoff, a native of El Paso, Texas, is widely known for her lush drawings and prints that explore the almost mystical presence of flora and fauna.  Her recent work has turned toward endangered birdlife.  During the pandemic months, her monoprints created at Flatbed began to be filled with silhouettes of the endangered birds that she studied. The resulting work is layered and nuanced with the avian shapes that are both present and disappearing.  At her home studio, Suzi spent her time referencing sketches, notes, and collected plants to create large scale drawings recalling her frequent walks in the Chihuahuan desert near Marfa, Texas.  Suzi writes in her field notes: “This group of works is part of an ongoing exploration and conversation about human-wrought changes in the ecosystem, specifically the vanishing riparian habitat of the Southwest and the birds affected by this loss of habitat. I have focused on four of the many species of birds that are disappearing:  Northern Aplomada Falcon, Southwest Willow Flycatcher, Western Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Black-capped Vireo.”  The exhibition features the Avian monotypes and a series of drawings based on Davidoff’s daily observations during a fourteen-day period of time taking the same walk each day in Madera Canyon in the mountains north of Big Bend. Inspired by her close connection to nature, and by what she calls “the spirit of investigation and observation of the natural world,” Suzi Davidoff creates mixed-media drawings, prints and installations that consider intricate patterns in nature and the overlaying systems used to observe, map and define organic landscapes. Her work begins with a walk, most often through the West Texas desert, where she lives. Along the way, she picks up bits of moss and lichen, handfuls of dirt, and other natural materials, which she brings back to her studio and rubs into the paper serving as the ground for her compositions, connecting nature itself to her interpretations of it. Suzi Davidoff attended the University of Texas at El Paso for her BFA and New Mexico State University for her MA and MFA.  Davidoff’s work is in the permanent collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; the National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington D.C.; Art in Embassies, Monterrey, MX; and the El Paso Museum of Art, El Paso.  She has been the recipient of the Mid-America NEW Fellowship and a Ford Foundation/ Pollack-Siquieros Binational Art Award. (Davidoff CV Linked)"

Artist talk: November 14, 2020 | 6-7 pm
Virtual artist talk with Suzi Davidoff. For registration, see event description.

Flatbed Center for Contemporary Printmaking 3701 Drossett Drive, Suite 190
Austin, TX 78744
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