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Pratt Fine Arts showcased the work of alumni and launched Pratt Institute Editions (PIE) at the 2018 UNTITLED Art Fair in Miami Beach, Florida. This celebrated annual curated fair of contemporary art was held from December 5-9 during Art Basel Miami Beach. Pratt Fine Arts’ participation at UNTITLED was highlighted by Artspace, which referred to Pratt’s booth as “a testament to and showcase of the strength and success of its alumni artists.”
“Fine Arts’ participation in UNTITLED demonstrates the continued support that we offer to our community post-graduation and celebrates their achievements,” said Pratt Fine Arts Chair Jane South. “Establishing PIE enables us to connect our program and students to the larger cultural conversation, and to reach beyond our gates to collaborate with professional artists across communities.”
Artwork by 42 Pratt alumni participants was exhibited in Pratt’s booth, including work by Derrick Adams, Lisa Corinne Davis, Robert Mapplethorpe, Duke Riley, Swoon, Mickalene Thomas, Deborah Willis, and Robert Wilson. Two alumni curators, Kelly Worman and Caroline Taylor, selected the works. All proceeds from artwork sales are equally shared between the artists and a new Pratt Fine Arts MFA scholarship fund.
Established this year, PIE invites professional artists to Pratt Fine Arts’ Printshop to produce limited editions. Led by master printer Caitlin Riordan and printmaking faculty member Grayson Cox, PIE fosters innovative collaboration across generations and communities. PIE builds and expands upon the legacy of the Pratt Graphics Center (1956–1986), founded to advance the Institute’s standing in the arts and enable collaboration from print media artists across the world.
Pratt Fine Arts exhibited two PIE projects at UNTITLED: an inaugural limited edition print by alumna Trudy Benson, MFA ’10, which was displayed alongside a Ray Johnson and a Lee Krasner print from the Pratt Graphics Center archive; and X-Ghost, a collaborative print project by four invited artists: Angela Dufresne; Geoff Chadsey; Lisa Sanditz, MFA ’10, and Kristyn Mckinney, MFA ’18. This project involved the artists working together by responding to marks/images made by each other somewhat akin to an “exquisite corpse” process, but with an etched plate serving as an image matrix to which each artist contributed their own unique response.
The prints on view at UNTITLED provided a window into the art of printmaking and asserted the value of collaborative processes. Pratt’s booth design also spoke to process, featuring a full-scale photograph of a Fine Arts MFA student’s studio transformed into black-and-white wallpaper, and including small groupings of sculptural “studio artifacts.”
Among the many visitors to Pratt’s booth at UNTITLED were Pratt President Frances Bronet, Pratt Provost Kirk E. Pillow, and School of Art Dean Gerry Snyder. Many Pratt alumni also stopped by, including Derrick Adams, Brice Brown, Heather McKenna, Rebecca Morgan, Tommy Ralph Pace (Deputy Director of ICA Miami and alumnus), Sharmistha Ray, Duke Riley, Jen Sheperd, Mickalene Thomas, Erin Welsh, and Deborah Willis.