Age & Seduction
Traveling one-person exhibition of Photopolymer Gravures by Karen Hymer with accompanying book
The exhibition is comprised of (30) 8×10-inch photopolymer gravure prints, floated and framed 14×18-inch.
Prints are limited editions of 3. Optional Silk banners (2) and 60 x 60-inch archival pigment print
also available. Accompanying book is a softcover trifold with hand-sewn binding, foil stamping on front
and back, 56 pages with 26 full-color plates, 8” x 9.5”. Printing and binding by Arizona Lithographers.
200 copies including 164 trade copies and 36 Collector’s Edition copies presented with an original
signed and numbered photogravure created by the artist.
Details
Rental Fee: $500 plus shipping per 8-week venue
10% discount offered to educational institutions
Space Requirements: 50 – 60 running feet
Insurance value: $15,000
For traveling exhibition booking information contact: karenhymer@karenhymer.com
Statement
Throughout her work, Karen Hymer intentionally brings the aging female body into view. The images
presented in this artist’s debut monograph are culled from two of her recent series of photopolymer
gravures: Remnants (2013-2016) and Flesh and Food (2015-2017). Her series Flesh and Food was influenced by
the intriguing cookbook Aphrodite: A Memoir of the Senses by Chilean writer Isabel Allende who states
that food, like eroticism, starts with the eyes. Hymer’s images pair the body with foods believed to be
aphrodisiacs. Fruits and vegetables, once young and luscious but now past their prime, are paired with
bodies that display the evidence of age—speaking to us of the memories of youth and beauty.
Hymer’s series Remnants explores the relationship between the aging human body and the processes of
decay in the natural world. By combining natural elements from the Sonoran desert with the human form,
Hymer reveals hidden connections. Hymer states, “I grew up in the desert collecting dead animals, dried
plants and rocks…Combining photography with printmaking, I emphasize the interplay of texture, pattern,
light and shadow, working with the muted earth tones I know best.” In many of these images, Hymer
exposes details typically hidden from sight, creating abstract representations that defy recognition. Devoid
of context, these images cannot be confidently identified even as male or female, internal or external,
healthy or marred. Each texture, crease, and coloration unapologetically marks the vagaries of time, an
intimate testament to the mysteries of the aging body.
Age & Seduction
Photopolymer Gravures by Karen Hymer
Bio
Karen Hymer is a visual artist and educator. Hymer earned her BFA in Photography from The School of the
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and Tufts University, continuing on to earn her MA and MFA in Photography
from the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque. Hymer actively exhibits her work both nationally and
internationally. Recent venues include the Phoenix Art Museum, The Los Angeles Center of Photography,
The Washington Printmakers Art Gallery, The Center for Photographic Arts, and The Center for Fine Art
Photography. Her work is in several public collections, including the Polaroid International Collection and
the Center for Creative Photography, as well as many private collections. Hymer received two winning awards
from the 12th Julia Margaret Cameron Award, 2018, was the recipient of an Rfotofolio Choice Award, and
received the Grand Prize in the International Juried Photographic Solarplate Exhibit at Alex Ferrone Gallery,
both in 2016. She received a Contemporary Forum Grant from the Phoenix Art Museum and an Arizona
Commission for the Arts Fast Track Grant in 2014. Hymer taught photography at Pima Community College
for 26 years and is currently the Director of Light Art Space in Silver City, New Mexico.
Copyright Karen Hymer 2018
