black and white relief print with the words of an anonymous poet

June 1, Saturday, 3-5pm, Artist Reception

June 8, Saturday, 2-4pm, Workshop: Presentation as Part of the Artist's Process. Free!

Washington Printmakers Gallery presents FREE to EXPRESS/EXPRESS to FREE, featuring the work of Helga Thomson and Norman Strike. It is an exhibit about "having the ability to seize the day and actively go forward in the midst of the seeming nihilism of daily life."

Both artists have explored the intersection of the personal and political in their art for years, with quiet humor and grace, but very different styles. Viewers will find the interplay between their work fascinating.

Moved by the 1976 death of a friend riding in the car when Orlando Letelier was assassinated, Strike began making work that comments explicitly on events and issues. His linocuts are crisp and outspoken. Thomson uses a variety of printing techniques and sculpture to create a more quiet commentary on political events in her native Argentina and the experience of women everywhere.

This exhibit looks both back and forward. At a time when many younger artists are creating highly political art in response to current events, it is valuable to look at the work of two artists who have been making such art for many years. It gives an opportunity to consider how much the challenges we face stay the same even as the world changes dramatically around us.

black and white image of a creature holding a red heart and an arrow

Helga Thomson was born in Buenos Aires and studied there and in Europe, as well as at Montgomery College and the Corcoran School of Art.

Helga has exhibited widely in international group and solo shows and she has received numerous awards. Her works are included in private and public collections (such as the Library of Congress) in the United States, Argentina, Europe and Central Asia.  Norman Strike received his BA in sociology from Wartburg College in Iowa before moving to the DC area in 1972. He became a picture framer, with his own frame shop, and a printmaker. His prints have received numerous awards in group exhibitions. In 1998, his work was included in an exhibition curated in Annapolis by Maryland's first lady, Frances Hughes Glendening. Norman's print Ben's Chili Bowl Is in the collection of the National Museum of American History. Other prints are in the Permanent Collections of the Library of Congress, the National Museum of Women in the Arts, and the Baltimore Museum of Art.