Don’t Look Far: Color and the Everyday

Chris Charles at WNY Book Arts Center

Opening Reception: Friday, May 30, 5-8pm

On view: Friday, May 30 – June 21, 2025

Buffalo, N.Y. –  May 5, 2025: The Western New York Book Arts Center announces gallery exhibition Don’t Look Far: Color and the Everyday, works from artist Chris Charles. This exhibition will be on view Friday, May 30 – June 21. There will be an opening reception May 30, 2025 from 5pm-8pm. 

Original letterpress and block prints by Rochester-based printmaker Chris Charles. Inspired by daily encounters, vintage curiosities and mid-century design, each piece is a celebration of form, color and the charm found in the familiar.

Over the past 15 years, Chris has refined her skills through experimentation and the repetition innate to printmaking. While grounded in traditional letterpress and block printing methods, her work often explores unconventional materials and applications. She pushes the limits of her presses and embraces nontraditional typesetting including the use of discarded metal type arranged in organic forms. Her monotype series extends this spirit of innovation, created primarily without the use of a press at all.

Chris Charles is a printmaker, designer, and educator based in Rochester, NY. She began as a painter, earning her BFA from Montserrat College of Art, before transitioning to graphic design. In 2009, she stumbled upon letterpress printing, and by 2010, she founded Moon Rabbit Press. Chris’s love for mid-century design deeply influences her creative style, especially when it comes to color and composition. She draws inspiration from what she sees and experiences on a daily basis – from the birds at the feeder to vintage objects from her collections – then renders them with bold, colorful shapes and a bit of humor.

To learn more, please visit:

https://wnybookarts.org/dont-look-far-color-and-the-everyday/

For information regarding gallery visitation hours and updates, visit https://wnybookarts.org/exhibitions/

This show is made possible by the New York State Council of the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.