Tamarind Institute
Encyclopedia
Tamarind Institute is a lithography
workshop created in 1970 as a division of the University of New Mexico
in Albuquerque, NM. It began as Tamarind Lithography Workshop, a California non-profit corporation founded by June Wayne
on Tamarind Avenue in Los Angeles
in 1960. Both the current Institute and the original Lithography Workshop are referred to informally as "Tamarind."
Faced with a paucity of opportunities on all fronts and a medium which seemed on the verge of extinction, Wayne sought to create more than just a studio:
Accordingly, Tamarind Institute's website lists the following goals, developed by founding director June Wayne with Associate director Clinton Adams
and Technical Director Garo Antreasian in 1960:
Lithography
Lithography is a method for printing using a stone or a metal plate with a completely smooth surface...
workshop created in 1970 as a division of the University of New Mexico
University of New Mexico
The University of New Mexico at Albuquerque is a public research university located in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in the United States. It is the state's flagship research institution...
in Albuquerque, NM. It began as Tamarind Lithography Workshop, a California non-profit corporation founded by June Wayne
June Wayne
June Claire Wayne was an American printmaker, designer, and educator. She founded the Tamarind Lithography Workshop.-Life:...
on Tamarind Avenue in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
in 1960. Both the current Institute and the original Lithography Workshop are referred to informally as "Tamarind."
Origin and Goals
Tamarind was founded in the absence of an American print shop dedicated to serving artists, and during a period when American artists tended to reject lithography and collaborative printing in favor of the more "direct...immediate" possibilities of Abstract Expressionist painting.Faced with a paucity of opportunities on all fronts and a medium which seemed on the verge of extinction, Wayne sought to create more than just a studio:
Accordingly, Tamarind Institute's website lists the following goals, developed by founding director June Wayne with Associate director Clinton Adams
Clinton Adams
Clinton Adams was an American artist and art historian.-Biography:Adams was born in Glendale, California. He worked in the art department of the University of California, Los Angeles, but eventually left to serve in the military. He returned to UCLA in 1946...
and Technical Director Garo Antreasian in 1960:
- To create a pool of master artisan-printers in the United States by training apprentices;
- To develop a group of American artists of diverse styles into masters of this medium;
- To habituate each artist and artisan to intimate collaboration so that each becomes responsive and stimulating to the other in the work situation encouraging both to experiment widely and extend the expressive potential of the medium;
- To stimulate new markets for the lithograph;
- To plan a format to guide the artisan in earning his living outside of subsidy or total dependence on the artist's pocket;
- To restore the prestige of lithography by actually creating a collection of extraordinary prints.
Impact
Tamarind can be credited with single-handedly reviving the medium of lithography, both insofar as they made the medium "respectable" and viable and also in that their dedicated research led to technical and economic breakthroughs with a visible impact on lithography in particular and printmaking in general; e.g., lightfast inks, durable and consistent printmaking paper, precise registration systems, aluminum plate printing, and lightweight, large diameter rollers are but a few important aspects of printmaking which either originated at or were refined by Tamarind. The workshop also established several now-customary procedures for editioned prints, such as precisely recording and documenting every edition, and affixing both a workshop chop and a printer's chop to each proof or impression in recognition of the printer's important role.Artists
Below is a partial list of some of the many artists who have created editions at Tamarind:- Kinji AkagawaKinji AkagawaKinji Akagawa is an American sculptor and arts educator best known for sculptural constructions that also serve a practical function. A pioneer in the public art movement, Akagawa has throughout his career examined the relationship between art and community, most notably the concept of art as a...
- Squeak CarnwathSqueak CarnwathSqueak Carnwath is a contemporary American painter. She received her MFA from California College of Arts and Crafts in 1977. She is a Professor of Art at the University of California, Berkeley, where she has taught since 1982, having previously taught at California College of Arts and Crafts and...
- Jose Luis CuevasJose Luis CuevasJosé Luis Cuevas is a modernist painter and sculptor from Mexico. Born in 1934, Cuevas derived most of his training outside of the academies. He is considered to be one of the artists from the 1950s in the Rupture Generation that was departing from the politicized and stylized mural school of...
- Roy DeForest
- Lesley DillLesley DillLesley Dill is an American contemporary artist and currently lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. She is represented by George Adams Gallery, New York and Arthur Roger Gallery, New Orleans.-Education:...
- Jim DineJim DineJim Dine is an American pop artist. He is sometimes considered to be a part of the Neo-Dada movement. He was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, attended Walnut Hills High School, the University of Cincinnati, and received a BFA from Ohio University in 1957. He first earned respect in the art world with...
- Walton FordWalton FordWalton Ford is an American artist who paints large scale watercolors in the style of Audubon's naturalist illustrations. Each painting is a meticulous study in flora and fauna, while being filled with symbols, clues and jokes referencing a multitude of texts from colonial literature and folktales...
- Akira Kurosaki
- Robert KushnerRobert KushnerRobert Kushner, M.D. is a Chicagoan, doctor and published author. Board certified in internal medicine and nutrition, Dr. Kushner has studied in-depth the life patterns approach to weight loss, which is based on more than 20 years of clinical experience....
- Hung LiuHung LiuHung Liu in Changchun, China is a Chinese-American contemporary artist.Hung Liu was born in the People's Republic, China and emigrated to the United States in 1984. She attended Beijing Teachers College in 1975 and studied mural painting as a graduate student at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in...
- Mel RamosMel RamosMel Ramos is a U.S. figurative painter, whose work incorporates elements of realist and abstract art. Born in Sacramento, California, he gained his greatest popularity in association with the Pop Art movement of the 1960s....
- Ed Ruscha
- Kiki SmithKiki SmithKiki Smith is an American artist classified as a feminist artist, a movement with beginnings in the twentieth century...
- Robert StackhouseRobert StackhouseRobert Stackhouse is an American artist and sculptor. Stackhouse graduated with a Bachelor Degree from the University of South Florida in 1965. He later earned a masters degree at the University of Maryland, College Park in studio art...
- Donald SultanDonald SultanDonald Sultan is an American artist, known for large-scale still life paintings executed with bold contrasts of bright color and deep black forms, tight, nearly abstract compositions, and unorthodox media....
- June WayneJune WayneJune Claire Wayne was an American printmaker, designer, and educator. She founded the Tamarind Lithography Workshop.-Life:...
- Matsumi Kanemitsu
- Burhan DogancayBurhan Dogançay-Biography:Burhan Dogançay obtained his artistic training from his father Adil Doğançay, and Arif Kaptan, both well-known Turkish painters. In his youth, Dogançay played on the Turkish Gençlerbirliği soccer team. In 1950, he received a law degree from the University of Ankara, Turkey...
- Jack BoyntonJack Boynton-Biography:Jack Boynton was born in Fort Worth, Texas in 1928, and was known professionally as James until the early 1970s when he started signing as. He graduated from Lamar High School in 1945, received Bachelor of Fine Arts and Master of Fine Arts -Biography:Jack Boynton was born in Fort Worth,...
- Hans BurkhardtHans BurkhardtHans Gustav Burkhardt was a Swiss American abstract expressionist.-Life and work:In 1924 he emigrated from Basel, Switzerland to New York. He shared Arshile Gorky's studio from 1929 to 1936...