Art Pick: Jenny Robinson

Schema, Scale and Construction:
Jenny Robinson

_{Flatbed Press
2832 East MLK Blvd.
September 13 – October 29}

by Sarah Jasmine Montgomery

Printmaker Jenny Robinson is an artist, not an engineer, but she sees a fundamental link between her postindustrial themes and the technical work her father and grandfather did. “I think it must be a genetic predisposition to look at things in [an engineer’s] practical and inquiring way,” Robinson said. “What does the skeleton underneath look like? What happens to materials as they age?”

Flatbed Press Gallery’s exhibition, “Schema, Scale and Construction,” features some of Robinson’s latest work. The Gallery’s staff said they were drawn to the artist’s unique printing process and its alluring results. She uses altered archival cardboard instead of metal plates to produce larger, more textured prints. “It’s a technical innovation that we think is very interesting and wanted to draw attention to,” associate gallery director Annalise Gratovich said. “It’s great to have the ability to bring her here and give a bigger picture of what contemporary print making is.”

Some of the work is inspired by actual places Robinson encounters, while others are more fantastical depictions of architecture. The use of dark ink and texture portray the structures as she sees them: monumental, but impermanent and prone to decay. Along with the exhibition, Robinson will be hosting a workshop at Flatbed Press to teach her printmaking process.