Fred Donath, Jr. Memorial Gallery
Steven M. Andersen is perhaps best known for the creation of Vermillion Editions Limited, a large, well-equipped fine art print studio that started in Minneapolis’ Warehouse District in 1977. Through Vermillion as well as Universal Limited Art Editions (ULAE) in Long Island, NY, The Cooper Union, Styria Studio and Parsons School of Design in New York City, Andersen has worked with some of the most well-known artists of the 20th and 21st centuries on large print editions such as James Rosenquist’s monumental Horse Blinders and Andy Warhol’s Chairman Mao series. Along the way, Andersen has acquired an impressive collection of works – some of which were produced in artist-to-artist collaboration and some acquired for his personal collection. A selection of these works were recently gifted to the Museum.
Songs of Science presents this recent acquisition of a selection of sixteen artist’s artworks from Andersen’s collection of original artworks with a primary but not exclusive focus on prints – collected throughout his distinguished career while working with New York and Minneapolis-based artists over the past five decades. Surprising connections and wide-ranging styles are present throughout the exhibition, which includes works by artists such as Glenn Appleman, Shusaku Arakawa, Red Grooms, Maja Godlewska, Duncan Hannah, Curtis Hoard, Warren Mackenzie, George Morrison, Nancy Randall, T.L. Solien, and David Rathman whose work loans the title of the exhibition.
Plains Art Museum and its permanent collection cares for over 300 contemporary prints and objects that are created through the work of printmaker Steven M. Andersen, founder and director of Vermillion Editions Limited, and is fortunate to share outstanding resources with our community thanks due to Steve Andersen’s generosity and passion for creativity. In addition, Andersen was paramount to the creation of Hannaher’s, Inc. Print Studio at Plains Art Museum, one of the few such facilities in an American art museum. Located in the southwest corner of the Plains Art Museum’s third floor, and opened in 1997, Hannaher’s, Inc. Print Studio continues to host printmaking classes, projects, and demonstrations that educate the students, artists, and audiences of today.
