On View: Renegade Letterpress Work of Felicia Rice, Theresa Whitehill, Zida Borcich
“BORDERBUS,” letterpress and relief printed artists’ book, Felicia Rice, 2019.
Mendocino, CA — Partners Gallery presents an exhibit of three guest artists taking place at the gallery in the historic Beacon Building in Mendocino in January and February 2022. The books, broadsides, and job work on display of these letterpress artists reside in the realm of book arts—a genre that encompasses all things BOOK. Each artist explores a different approach to letterpress, a medium born in the 1450s and in danger of extinction when these artists entered the field almost 50 years ago.
Felicia Rice’s collaborative artists’ books, Theresa Whitehill’s letterpress poetry broadsides, and Zida Borcich’s commercial job work embody a love of craft, a dedication to art, and a passion for communicating. As renegades, their work reflects perspectives on the radical technical, cultural, and political shifts of the 20th and 21st centuries.
About this Collaboration Between Three Letterpress Artists
Felicia Rice lost her home, her entire life’s work (over 40 years of fine press publishing), and all of her irreplaceable letterpress equipment in the Santa Cruz Mountain fires in 2020. When Felicia relocated to the Rice family home in Mendocino, in which she planned to resume printing in a tiny shed on the property, Theresa Whitehill and Zida Borcich showed up to welcome Felicia back to the community, celebrate her work, mourn her loss, and support her literal rising from the ashes. These three women are all connected to each other through the art of letterpress. This is an exhibit in triptych about an art form, about resilience, about love of a rare craft, about climate change and sorrow and friendship and beauty and stamina.
This exhibit kicks off BAM! Book Arts Mendocino! —a concurrent festival of book arts on the Mendocino coast throughout January and February 2022. Full listings at www.tinyurl.com/BAM-2022.
Show dates: January 6–March 6, 2022
Second Saturday Receptions:
- Saturday, January 8, 5–7 pm: Meet the Artists
- Saturday, February 12, 4:30–5 pm: Talk by Peter Koch, CODEX Foundation
- Saturday, February 12, 5–7 pm: Meet the Artists
Partners Gallery is located in the former Beacon Building at 45062 Ukiah Street, Mendocino. It is open Thursdays-Mondays, 11am-5pm. For more information, call 707-962-0233 or visit www.partnersgallery.com.
