PHILADELPHIA, PA.- Philagrafika 2010 will be an international, contemporary art quadrennial that celebrates the printed image as a core strategy for artists today. This set of curated exhibitions will premier January through April 2010 in Philadelphia. Philagrafika will be a city-wide event, gaining momentum with each incarnation. At a time when artists everywhere cross disciplinary boundaries and reconstitute printmaking by integrating it with painting, sculpture, installation and web-based art, Philagrafika 2010 will showcase the essential role of the printed image in shaping contemporary global visual culture.

Increasingly, artists have embraced printmaking processes as an integral part of interdisciplinary artistic practice. Artists who do not necessarily self-identify as “printmakers” have integrated aspects of the medium into their practice. Philagrafika 2010 will be less about defining the boundaries of the medium, and more about how intrinsic elements in printmaking—collaboration, technology and accessibility—are effective tools for contemporary artists. Artist Ellen Gallagher's DeLuxe, exhibited at the Whitney Museum of American Art in 2005, is just one example of how current artistic practice is transforming our understanding of printmaking. In DeLuxe, Gallagher exhibits sixty works that combine multiple processes to modify popular African-American magazines. The New York Times quoted Whitney curator David Kiehl: "This work is so complex that it will take years for a lot of printmaking to catch up…Ellen has something to say, and how she is saying it i s stretching the medium." By 2010, the contemporary art world will be ready for an exploration of this phenomenon from an international perspective.

The central exhibition of Philagrafika 2010 will be held at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, with related exhibitions at other confirmed principle venues. The following sites have already confirmed participation (more may be added):

Brandywine Workshop
Fabric Workshop and Museum
Institute of Contemporary Art, University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia Museum of Art
The Print Center
Samuel S. Fleisher Art Memorial

Within the framework of Philagrafika 2010, each institution will develop exhibitions and/or residency-based artist projects. Other, non-traditional venues in await selection, pending the development of site-specific projects.