A Journey Through the Practice of Printmaking

New Dowd exhibit features the distinctive styles of printmakers Golbganou Moghaddas and Art Hazelwood

“Hoopoe The Paragon.” Courtesy of the artist.

The Edward M. Dowd Art and Art History Building is now home to the captivating printmaking of Golbganou Moghaddas and Art Hazelwood. From Feb. 16 to April 8, the Art and Art History Gallery is showcasing a collection of etchings, woodcuts, linocuts and screenprints from the two artists.

Moghaddas, a San Francisco-based artist, and Hazelwood, an artist and lecturer at the San Francisco Art Institute, both offer vastly different explorations into printmaking. Visitors can now come Monday-Friday from 9am-4pm to experience these new perspectives on an ancient art form.

The gallery interpolates each artist’s work throughout the exhibition, highlighting the stark stylistic differences between the two creators. Viewers can observe the small but remarkable differences between the various printing methods and appreciate the range of possibility within the practice of printmaking.

Moghaddas’ work features etchings inspired by her native country of Iran, along with firsthand experiences of living in the U.K. and U.S. She is guided by Persian mythology and storytelling, which is illustrated through surrealist imagery, resulting in highly symbolic and intricate art. This metaphoric style demands viewers’ interpretation and is beautifully enigmatic.

One of the central elements in Moghaddas’ prints is her incorporation of anthropomorphic and mythological creatures. These individuals often serve as the focal point of the prints that they inhabit. Moghaddas also uses hands and feet as recurring visual motifs, which frequently appear to be growing, much like a burgeoning tree. This motif is best seen in the self-aware

“Concave Feelings of a Printmaker.” Courtesy of the artist.

Moghaddas’ work prominently features tidal waves and cosmological imagery, which are seen in a collection of prints dubbed “From Water to Water.” One piece in particular, “The Rise,” showcases a graphic reminiscent of an orbital chart floating over an anthropomorphized creature gliding above the waves:

“The Rise.” Courtesy of the artist.

Hazelwood draws on decades of political activism to print dramatic political commentary and satire surrounding American life. His style is largely reminiscent of political cartoons. Though Hazelwood offers his unique spin through the highly textured look and large, dynamic strokes found on each of his prints.

Hazelwood’s work details the harsh realities of our current political climate and the comments on the role of forces like big business, the military and government. He utilizes a variety of different mediums — woodcuts, linocuts and screenprints — throughout the collection. Varied too is Hazelwood’s subject matter. His more recent works include COVID-19 and ongoing police brutality as focal points. Before that, he covers topics like gentrification, homelessness and nationalism.

Hazelwood’s work features a particular recurring character: a figure in a suit with the head of a large money bag. This figure, which Hazelwood notes is the 19th century depiction of a robber baron, appears in many of his pieces, often looming over the subject below. In some cases, the robber barons are holding marionette strings, controlling the print’s other agents. In others, this character plays out the actions in which Hazelwood is commenting on, like in “Free Market,” where the robber baron is involved in the labeled sections of “Privatizing, Commodifying, Gentrifying, and Displacing:”

“Free Market.” Courtesy of the artist.

Two of Hazelwood’s most stunning and representative pieces are featured together near the back of the gallery: “Culture Street” and “Gentrification Lane.” Hazelwood notes that this duo was inspired by William Hogarth’s “Beer Street and Gin Lane.” This deeply symbolic set of prints comments on aspects like the presence of police in different neighborhoods, and even includes intricacies like the difference in advertising on each street.

“Culture Street” and “Gentrification Lane.” Courtesy of the artist.

Moghaddas and Hazelwood’s highly detailed and deeply reflective prints each tell their own story.

For Moghaddas, it is a thrilling and stimulating journey that runs through all of her work.

For Hazelwood, his distinctive style allows for a laser-focus into the heart of some of our country’s most potent issues.

Both collections deliver dazzling contributions to the art of printmaking and implore revisiting.