Innovations in fine art screenprinting showcased in Philly

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The Philadelphia Museum of Art is now the repository of fine art prints created by the New York City-based print studio Brand X Editions.

Since 1979, Brand X has produced work by some of America’s most prominent artists, including Chuck Close, Helen Frankenthaler, Rashid Johnson, KAWS, Mickalene Thomas, Robert Indiana, John Wesley, Jennifer Barlett and Alex Katz.

“Some of those artists are already in our collection. Many of those artists we want in the collection,” said Louis Marchesano, the PMA’s deputy director of Curatorial Affairs. “This is a way that we can increase the diversity and number of important artists in the collection.”

According to the arrangement made between the PMA and Brand X, 350 archival prints created by Brand X have been transferred to the Art Museum. Also, over the next 10 years one copy of every new print the studio creates will be given to the Art Museum.

It’s a win-win for both institutions, said the founder of Brand X, Robert Blanton. He gets to have the work he has been doing for 46 years preserved in perpetuity at museum standards.

“It’s an undreamed-of privilege, to me, that they wanted to do this,” he said. “This is an opportunity that I thought would never come around for Brand X.”

Marchesano is showcasing the museum’s new collection with “Brand X Editions: Innovations in Screenprinting,” an exhibition of about 90 pieces.