Gretchen Wagner, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Fellow for Prints, Drawings, and Photographs, co-curated the 2018 exhibition “Graphic Revolution: American Prints 1960 to Now.”
The history of printmaking and the role of artist’s editions in contemporary practice is a primary focus of Wagner’s research. She has, for example, explored the worlds of 1970s conceptual art, Eastern European printmaking and the print as public art.
Wagner received a master’s degree in art history from Williams College and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She has held curatorial positions at the Museum of Modern Art, the Pulitzer Arts Foundation and the Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center/Marfa Contemporary.
Highlights from the numerous exhibitions Wagner has curated and co-curated on topics ranging from German Expressionism to Fluxus Editions include: “Artist’s Artists: James Siena, Josh Smith and Charline von Heyl Collect Prints” at the International Print Center New York (2014) and “Art of Its Own Making” at the Pulitzer Arts Foundation (2014); as well as the MoMA exhibitions “Projects 98: Slavs and Tatars” (2012); “Thing/Thought: Fluxus Editions, 1962-1978” (2011); and “Gabriel Orozco: Samurai Tree Invariants” (2009).
Notable media appearances and mentions
- Saint Louis Art Museum’s “Graphic Revolution” includes black experience (St. Louis American, Jan. 31, 2019)
- Graphic boom resonates at St. Louis Art Museum (St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Nov. 9, 2018)
- St. Louis Art Museum presents new ‘Graphic Revolution’ exhibit on display (KPLR-TV, Nov. 7, 2018)
- Influential print series ‘Disasters of War’ comes to St. Louis Art Museum (St. Louis Public Radio, Aug. 5, 2016)
Television and video
Recent and upcoming SLAM exhibitions
- Printing Abstraction (2018)
- Graphic Revolution: American Prints 1960 to Now (2018)
- Impressions of War” (2016)