On September 20, Print Center New York (IPCNY) will debut its new Publisher Spotlight program with a lobby showcase of editions by Leslie Diuguid of Brooklyn’s Du-Good Press, the first Black woman-owned independent screenprinting business in New York City. ICPNY intends to highlight the behind-the-scenes work of Diuguid and other publishers who collaborate with artists to facilitate the production of editioned prints and other services within the field.
“We want to activate our lobby space in new ways for visitors and use that prime real estate to advance our mission, which, in a nutshell, is about supporting the ecosystem of printmaking,” IPCNY Director Judy Hecker told Hyperallergic, pointing to how printers and publishers are often under-recognized on the outside for their labor and expertise.
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“We also want to respond to our visiting public, many of whom are budding collectors looking for discoveries,” Hecker continued. “In a sea of galleries that often sell work out of reach for most people, we want to say, ‘Here is fresh work you can buy and live with.’”
Diuguid, who founded Du-Good Press in 2017, has worked with a variety of artists and designers from Faith Ringgold to Tau Lewis, realizing their print editions through a collaborative practice over the years. She recently shifted her print setup from her bedroom to a new storefront space in Brooklyn’s Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood that has been operational since Memorial Day.
“Since moving into this new space, I’ve been having to work with a lot more clients just to pay the bills,” Diuguid told Hyperallergic, noting that the expansion funds she raised to open up the shop have since been depleted. “Hopefully, the Publisher Spotlight is going to help me recoup the money that I overspent, and I’ll be able to at least pay myself back for some of that and hire assistants.”
The publisher was approached directly by IPCNY to inaugurate the Publisher Spotlight program, and she’s been hard at work getting the editions out in time for September 20. Diuguid’s presentation at the Print Center will include screen printed and offset-printed editions with five artists ranging from $40 to $1,800, and a collection of zines that are listed at $20 each. She was particularly excited about including the second edition of Char Jeré’s “Periodic Table of Black Revolutionaries” (2021) as the first had sold out completely, and printmaker and photographer Insil Jang’s “a birthright, an obligation, all the same” (2023), a four-color screenprint.
Right: Insil Jang signing “a birthright, an obligation, all the same” (2023), an edition of 14 screenprints (photo by and courtesy Leslie Diuguid)
Alongside Jeré and Jang are editions by Tariku Shiferaw, Rose Salane, and Glen Baldridge, all with diverse practices that enable Diuguid to showcase the versatility of screenprinting. Baldridge’s “No Way” (2022) emulates paper marbling techniques and required 28 colors, Shiferaw’s editions maintain a painterly element, and Salane’s editions will have a metallic sheen.
Diuguid’s display will be on view from September 20 through October 21, with an opening reception on October 4. Afterward, Hecker told Hyperallergic that the second rotation for the Publisher Spotlight will feature D&S Fine Art Editions, a collaboration between Deb Chaney Editions and Ateliers Stéphane Guilbaud that will primarily focus on lithography.
“The idea for this series is to showcase a regular beat of new work and to use our space to give independent printer-publishers who don’t necessarily have widespread exposure in Chelsea — or in New York — a platform,” Hecker said.
Source: Hyperallergic.com