Waswo X. Waswo was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, but as an artist, he has traveled and lived in India, published books about that country’s art, collected the works of Indian printmakers and produced his own miniature paintings.
He will lecture Thursday, Oct. 2, at 7:30 p.m. in Room 240 of Art Building West on the University of Iowa campus. His talk, “Indian Printmaking: Rediscovery, Revolution and Renewal,” tells the story of his journey into collecting Indian prints and summarizes the history of fine art printmaking in India, from colonial days through independence, Indian Modernism and to the present day.
The lecture is free and open to the public. It is sponsored by the UI Museum of Art, the UI School of Art and Art History, and the UI South Asian Studies Program in UI International Programs.
Waswo studied at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, the Milwaukee Center for Photography, and Studio Marangoni, the Centre for Contemporary Photography in Florence, Italy. His books, India Poems: The Photographs, published by Gallerie Publishers in 2006, and Men of Rajasthan, published by Serindia Contemporary in 2011, are available worldwide.
The artist has lived and traveled in India for over 12 years. For the past eight years he has made his home in Udaipur, Rajasthan. There he collaborates with a variety of local artists, including the photo hand-colorist Rajesh Soni. He has also produced a series of autobiographical miniature paintings in collaboration with the artist R. Vijay. Waswo is represented in India by Gallerie Espace, New Delhi and Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai, and in Thailand by Serindia Gallery, Bangkok, and also by Indigo Blue Art, Singapore, and JanKossen Contemporary, Basel.
His personal collection of Indian printmaking includes etchings, lithographs, linocuts, and woodcuts. Numbering over 200 individual prints, the collection has been exhibited at the India Habitat Centre, New Delhi, and the National Gallery of Modern Art in both Bangalore and Mumbai. This collection has been the subject of a book, Between the Lines: Identity, Place and Power, by Lina Vincent Sunish.
Visit uima.uiowa.edu/ for more information about the UIMA’s collections, exhibitions, and education programming.
Individuals with disabilities are encouraged to attend all UI-sponsored events. If you are a person with a disability who requires a reasonable accommodation in order to attend this lecture, contact UI Museum of Art in advance at 319-335-1727.
After the June 2008 flooding of the UIMA's former Riverside Drive home, the building was deemed unsuitable for the return of artwork. However, the UIMA collection was saved, and through the use of temporary facilities and creative outreach, the UIMA continues to offer the invaluable experience of art to the University, the community, Iowans, and others at these locations:
UIMA@IMU Visual Classroom, Iowa Memorial Union, Room 376
125 North Madison Street, Iowa City, Iowa 52242
Black Box Theater, Iowa Memorial Union, third floor
125 North Madison Street, Iowa City, Iowa 52242
Figge Art Museum
225 West Second St., Davenport, Iowa 52801