Hard Ground: A Tale of New York Print and Printmaking

Luther Davis, Master Printer and Director of the Powerhouse Arts Printshop, Assistant Professor of Printmaking, Parsons School of Design

Now in its 11th year, the Annual Distinguished Scholar Lecture series features artists, printmakers, scholars, and curators to spotlight their works-in-progress and new discoveries, or to celebrate their achievements in the field to-date.

Davis’s talk this year will outline a brief history of New York print innovations, grounded in his 30 years of collaboration with artists. Together these two histories have helped shape key initiatives at Brooklyn-based arts nonprofit Powerhouse Arts, and continue to transform how we understand printmaking today.

Luther Davis is the Master Printer and Director of the Powerhouse Arts Printshop and teaches printmaking at Parsons School of Design. He was the co-founder of Forth Estate, a fine art publisher focused on producing limited editions with emerging artists.

In a typical year, Luther and his team of printers collaborate with 80 artists and produce 300 unique print projects. Recent projects include prints with Glenn Ligon, Lorna Simpson, Mark Bradford, Amy Sherald, Eddie Martinez, Tishan Hsu, Jean Shin, and Michael Namingha. Luther is also the co-founder of the Brooklyn Fine Arts Print Fair which showcases about 70 print studios, artists, and publishers from around the world, including academic print departments.

This event is organized by the Association of Print Scholars (APS) and hosted on Zoom by The Drawing Foundation. 

Image: PHA Printshop. Photo: Nicholas Calcott. Courtesy of Powerhouse Arts.