Andy Farkas

Andy Farkas, Out of Reach. Mokuhanga woodcut with handset type.

"Being out of reach didn't mean it wasn't worth reaching for.
and, what was offered — well, that was just right."

 

Davidson Galleries is pleased to share new work from American artist, Andy Farkas. Featured are three new mokuhanga woodcuts from 2021 and 2022. As a woodblock and book artist, Farkas focuses on storytelling, combining beautiful images with simple but rich text. Working in mokuhanga woodcuts and wood engravings, Farkas adds letterpress text to expand the stories he depicts and open them to the viewer’s imagination. His work includes both richly colored mokuhanga woodcuts and delicate, simple wood engravings in the service of stories of peace, gratitude, and belonging.

Andy Farkas, Shared Dream. Mokuhanga with handset type.

“Leaving their differences behind, she finally recognized them in their shared dream to fly."

 

Farkas’s new works focus on joy, hope, and the present — on the enjoyment of growth with life’s challenges, not in spite of them. The peace within his statements are married with the harmony of his images, the beautiful color gradients, the delicate outlines, and compositional balance. There is a quiet, intimate experience for the viewer when entering his fable world. While entirely imagined, it all feels perfectly natural. We can sense the artist’s hand in the exacting, traditional process of mokuhanga, just as we can see the careful construction of the image and the love for the natural world. As Farkas describes, “My work rises from a quiet mind, without censorship. I simply follow it towards its natural conclusion.”

Andy Farkas, Right Now. Mokuhanga with handset type.

“What is your favorite thing?" "Right now."

These new works follow the path Farkas has carefully taken in his practice. We see his favored characters reappear in charming environments, forests, meadows, and cliff sides engaging with each other and their own thoughts. In Right Now, a rare human character is introduced as Farkas considers more directly the concept of family, a theme he often explores, now on a more intimate level. By embracing Farkas’s outlook and traveling through his worlds, we can find a similar form of peace. We, too, can enjoy a love of the present moment and hope for our shared future.

Andy Farkas, It Came to Her. Wood engraving.

        

Andy Farkas, This is Where You're Supposed to Be. Wood engraving.

 

Andy Farkas (American, b. 1975) is based in Asheville, North Carolina and received his BFA in Printmaking from East Carolina University. He has exhibited and taught internationally, including at the International Mokuhanga Conference in Japan. Farkas is known for his mokuhanga woodblock prints and wood engravings with letterpress text. Both a writer and artist, Farkas combines word and image to tell a vast story within a single frame. Often featuring animals as the protagonists, his work draws from the unique vulnerability and creativity of the fable or storybook world to speak to the human experience. Farkas’s work is held in the permanent collections of the Smithsonian, Savannah College of Art and Design, Vanderbilt University, and others.

Please view these new works from Andy Farkas alongside his other works offered by Davidson Galleries on our website here: Collection | Andy Farkas or call/email to make an appointment to view them in person.