SAM MESSER
IN THE YEAR 2020
In the Year 2020 I, 2020. Etching with monoprint, hand coloring, and collage on Hahnemuhle. Paper Size: 22 x 29 in. Image Size: 15.5 x 20 in. Variable edition of 17. NFS
In the Year 2020 II, 2020. Etching with monoprint, hand coloring, and collage on Hahnemuhle. Paper Size: 22 x 29 in. Image Size: 15.5 x 20 in. Variable edition of 17
In the Year 2020 III, 2020. Etching with monoprint, hand coloring, and collage on Hahnemuhle. Paper Size: 22 x 29 in. Image Size: 15.5 x 20 in. Variable edition of 17
In the Year 2020 IV, 2020. Etching with monoprint, hand coloring, and collage on Hahnemuhle. Paper Size: 22 x 29 in. Image Size: 15.5 x 20 in. Variable edition of 17
In the Year 2020 V, 2020. Etching with monoprint, hand coloring, and collage on Hahnemuhle. Paper Size: 22 x 29 in. Image Size: 15.5 x 20 in. Variable edition of 17
In the Year 2020 VI, 2020. Etching with monoprint, hand coloring, and collage on Hahnemuhle. Paper Size: 22 x 29 in. Image Size: 15.5 x 20 in. Variable edition of 17
In the Year 2020 VII, 2020. Etching with monoprint, hand coloring, and collage on Hahnemuhle. Paper Size: 22 x 29 in. Image Size: 15.5 x 20 in. Variable edition of 17
In the Year 2020 VIII, 2020. Etching with monoprint, hand coloring, and collage on Hahnemuhle. Paper Size: 22 x 29 in. Image Size: 15.5 x 20 in. Variable edition of 17
In the Year 2020 IX, 2020. Etching with monoprint, hand coloring, and collage on Hahnemuhle. Paper Size: 22 x 29 in. Image Size: 15.5 x 20 in. Variable edition of 17
In the Year 2020 XVII, 2020. Etching with monoprint, hand coloring, and collage on Hahnemuhle. Paper Size: 22 x 29 in. Image Size: 15.5 x 20 in. Variable edition of 17
IN THE YEAR 2020
Working with the motif of the typewriter, “In the Year 2020,” the artist features the elemental quality of the copper etching plate itself. Having scratched through the ground to expose the copper, the artist then left the plate in the acid for many hours. The resulting plate is eaten away so much so that large holes and voids appear throughout. The plate is printed “as is” with all the blemishes and voids.To resulting prints pulled from this plate evoke a weathered and fraught condition. To these prints the artist has added watercolor and collage elements, as well enamel on some, creating a group of truly unique prints.
— Andrew Mockler
B. 1955, NEW YORK, NY
Sam Messer received a BFA from Cooper Union (1976) and an MFA from Yale University (1982). He is represented by Nielsen Gallery, Boston, and Shoshana Wayne Gallery, Los Angeles. His work may be found in public collections including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Whitney Museum of American Art, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Art Institute of Chicago, and Yale University Art Gallery.
Messer has received awards including the Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation grant (1984), Engelhard Award (1985), Pollock-Krasner Foundation grant (1993), and a Guggenheim Fellowship (1996). He has collaborated with Paul Auster on The Story of My Typewriter, and with Denis Johnson on Cloud of Chalk. He was appointed senior critic at Yale in 1994 and in 2005 was appointed associate dean and professor (adjunct). He also serves as director of the art division of the Yale SummerSchool of Music and Art in Norfolk.