Curated Exhibition with Yoonmi Nam and Ruben Castillo:
The Soft Edges
About the Artist
Henry Gepfer is an artist, educator and curator from Lancaster, PA. They have earned a BSE in Art Education from Millersville University and an MFA in printmaking from Edinboro University, both PA. Gepfer has recently joined the University of Arkansas as an assistant professor in Printmaking. Gepfer’s work has been shown in numerous national exhibitions and they have completed national and international residencies with Zygote Press in Cleveland, OH, the Wassaic Project in Wassaic, NY, and Sparkbox Studio, Picton, Ontario, Canada. In 2022, Gepfer began a collaborative print/performance venture called (no) Fine Print with artist K. MacNeil.
Artist Statement
Three-Person Show is one artist, split into three distinct characters and modes of
making. The works document the embarrassment, shame, failure, violence and vulnerability associated with typical understandings of masculinity. This work was guided by performance and process, reflecting the kind of pageantry that is simultaneously anathema to and foundation of the masculine enterprise.
Validation is a performance in which I issue stamped validation to passersby in an
official capacity apropos of nothing. Sharing vocabulary between the administrative and the personal, I want viewers to consider whether or not validation carries the same weight from all sources.
Artist
Exhibition
The Soft Edges
I’m a Loser
Gloves, makeup, photo print, mannequin hands, printed fabric, sound
2017
Dandelion
Make-up, handkerchiefs, photo prints
2016
Poor Traits of a Man (An Easy Joke)
Underwear, socks, canvas, grommet, rope
2017
Self-Flag
Undershirts, canvas, grommets, rope
2016
It Will Never Not be Like This, Will It?
Video, monitor, screen-prints on paper, scissors, twine,
hole punch
2017
Video shot and edited by Jossua K. Olar. Sound by John MacDonald Jr.
It Will Never Not be Like This, Will It?
Video, monitor, screen-prints on paper, scissors, twine,
hole punch
2017
Video shot and edited by Jossua K. Olar. Sound by John MacDonald Jr.
Life is Full of Humor (I Know Because it is Always Laughing at Me)
Cyanotype on muslin, photo
prints, performance
2016
Life is Full of Humor (I Know Because it is Always Laughing at Me)
Cyanotype on muslin, photo
prints, performance
2016
Validation
Performance with stamper and cards
This piece was performed during the Southern Graphics Council International’s 2022 conference in Madison, WI.