Common Ground is a collaborative art exhibit featuring lithograph pieces from artist Wayne Kimball. Abe Kimball has seen his father scrap countless pieces of his art. After Wayne was left with prints of a piece that he didn’t know what to do with, the pair decided to put them to use. Abe invited 42 artists to cut up the prints and create their own pieces. This collaboration formed the exhibit, which was named Common Ground by co-curator Namon Bills.
In an interview with BYU-Idaho Radio, Kimball says the artists were initially hesitant. In his words, the average initial reaction was something like, “You want me to cut up a Wayne Kimball print?”
Brigham Young University calls Wayne, “one of the world’s best and last true lithographers.” The sentiment makes his son emotional.
“Not many people have been able to achieve what he has done,” Kimball said.
Lithography is a complex printing technique using stone or metal. Kimball uses limestone and aluminum. Each color is printed on a separate stone, and the process is time consuming.
“Some artists are in love with old technology, and they really have to… save it because there’s a tradition,” Kimball said.
The exhibit features mediums from prints and collages to animation and pillows. All of them share ‘common ground,’ as they incorporate one of Wayne Kimball’s prints- a piece with the head of a bust and a chair.
Common Ground is at the Spori Art Gallery until Feb. 24. Admission is free.