Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Eve-n-Odd Gallery and The Letterpress Truck

Jennifer Kosharek and her T-shirt show at Even-n-Odd


Jennifer Kosharek's Eve-n-Odd gallery is at 645 Central Ave, in the Crislip Arcade. She is best known for her mail art and association with contemporary Fluxus artists. Recently, she had a t-shirt show. I missed the opening, and a lot of them were sold, but what remained was impressive. Two stood out, the one in the photo just to the viewer's left of Jennifer Kosharek, by Jennifer Chandley and one by Coralette Damme. There were also works by Michelle Hill, Jennifer Shull, Psynner, Bibiana Padilla, Adam S, Rob Stephens, and Saori.

The gallery has been open for over a year. She carries a lot of  work by local artists, including Calan Ree. I took home one of her small heart bowls. Jennifer mentioned she had coordinated a stop on the Letterpress Truck's journey, and it was going to be dropping by a little later. I went on to the Morean (there are enough places open on Central on Sundays to make a visit worthwhile), took in the work being gathered for the "Blooms" show, which will be reviewed here soon, and returned to Eve-n-Odd to find the Letterpress truck parked outside.
Movable Type Truck

The truck is from Movable Type [Link], a 1982 Chevrolet Step Van, AKA "The Sweetheart of the Road" that has been converted into a long-range rolling print shop. Kyle Durrie hails from Portland, Oregon, where she is the proprietor of Power and Light Press [Link]. She customized the truck's interior for this journey, putting in paneling, cabinetry, a small bed in the back, counters and more. She is using a press from 1873 (!) on a daily basis, sometimes holding workshops on finding and using these machines.


The map inside the truck




Durrie is on a long road trip. She told me about twenty-one thousand miles. There are red pins all over that map of the USA. She's been on the road for some time, and will be traveling through April. It began on June 11, 2011.






Kyle Durrie in her truck, with her press and a print


On the right you can see Ms. Durrie in her truck. On the left is her press. She is holding a print from it, the kind that visitors to the Press got to print on their own and take home for a very reasonable price. Note the customized interior of the truck, done by Kyle.











The Process

On the right you can see the process taking place, as Kyle explained to the new printers what and how to do it. People had a great time with this, and many expressed interest in obtaining a press for their own work.








Satisfied, smiling customers after the printing experience.







Congratulations to Kyle Durrie and Jennifer Kosharek for a wonderful Sunday afternoon.


2 comments:

  1. what a cool adventure she is having in that van, a quick look at her blog and i know i will be heading back to read each one!
    sad that i missed her in st pete :(
    nice article though

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  2. Kyle is having a Big Adventure, and spreading that sense of possibilities and potentials wherever she goes.

    ReplyDelete