IFPDA Print Fair: @ Park Avenue Armory, NYC

Dolan/Maxwell is pleased to present “United States of Viscosity” at the 2026 IFPDA Print Fair.

The simultaneous color viscosity print method was invented by Krishna Reddy and Kaiko Moti at Atelier 17 in Paris during the mid-1950s. Like many artistic innovations, the discovery emerged from experimentation and chance. While rolling ink onto an etched plate to add surface color, the artists noticed that a drop of oil resisted the denser ink, producing unexpected visual effects. This observation led to extensive exploration and ultimately to the development of a revolutionary printing system capable of layering up to four colors from a single plate. By using rollers of varying hardness, artists could apply multiple inks that adhered selectively to the plate and printed simultaneously without blending.

The technique quickly became integral to the experimental ethos of Atelier 17. Our presentation will feature exceptional examples by key practitioners, including Stanley William Hayter’s Witches’ Sabbath, Krishna Reddy’s The Great Clown and Demonstrators, works by Helen Phillips, an early abstract etching by Kaiko Moti, and prints by Gail Singer, Shirley Wales, Shirley Witebsky, Judith Blum, and Takesada Matsutani. Together, these works demonstrate the technical ambition and aesthetic range that defined the method’s early decades.

Krishna Reddy later introduced viscosity printing to the Bob Blackburn Printmaking Workshop in New York, where the method was embraced and expanded by Blackburn and fellow artists including Romare Bearden, Norman Lewis, Joyce Wellman, and Vivian Browne. Highlights include Bearden’s The Train and Blackburn’s Organic Thing.

The technique continued to evolve through Communications Village, founded by Ben Wigfall in New Paltz, New York. Prints produced there by Wigfall and collaborators - including Mel Edwards, Pat Jow Kagemoto, and other artists associated with the workshop - demonstrate how viscosity printing further enriched diverse artistic practices and fostered cross-cultural dialogue.

Viscosity printing remains a vital and evolving process in contemporary printmaking studios. Our booth will include a constructed viscosity work by Anders Bergstrom and figurative works by Adrian Armstrong, illustrating the technique’s ongoing relevance and expressive potential. We are delighted to present a comprehensive look at the origins and development of this high-risk technique that unites three seminal print workshops. Rich color rules and our extensive collection of superb examples reward careful looking. 

Complementing this focused presentation is a diverse selection of significant contemporary prints and works on paper by Norman Ackroyd, Steven Ford, Nona Hershey, Susan Rothenberg, Dexter Davis, Betye Saar, Emily Mason, Walter Williams, and Dindga McCannon. We will also present important WPA-era and pre–World War II prints and drawings by Benton Spruance, Grant Wood’s Sultry Night, Dox Thrash, Harriet Berger-Nurkse, along with Seymour Fogel’s Air Raid.