FINE PRINT: Drive By Press at the Print Center

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FINE PRINT: Drive By Press at the Print Center

POSTED: Thursday, February 18, 2010, 9:42 PM

Courtesy of Drive By Press

Courtesy of Drive By Press

Bringing you more Philagrafika 2010 coverage twice a week, at least.

Drive By Press' Joseph Velasquez and Greg Nanney are two printmaking rebels who decided to take their craft outside of the secluded studio and onto the road. What began as a show in 13 schools turned into a tour of more than 250 schools, during which Velasquez and Nanney hauled a 600-pound press across 200,000 miles — all for the love of printmaking. They'll be exhibiting at the Print Center (1614 Latimer St., 215-735-6090) from March 24 to April 11.

City Paper: Tell me how you and Greg got started with Drive By Press.
Joseph Velasquez: When Greg and I first started with this project, it began as a thesis project aimed at 13 schools that didn't have printmaking programs. They were schools that didn't have money for printmaking or materials, or even visiting artists. But we believe in the democratization of art. Printmaking is always in basement somewhere and when kids see that they get turned off. And then there's this huge mechanical, antiquated monster. We wanted to mobilize it, so we took out extra student loans — we were never given any grant money for it. We were given a collection of 200 prints from different artists that we could show to the kids. So we advertised printmaking and traveled to 13 schools for free. Then when it was done, we got a call from 47 other schools in the country who wanted us to come out and do the same for them.

Then we started printing our blocks on T-shirts and it really made a turn for us, both financially and just as far as getting our stuff out there, making it more accessible. I always tell kids about the elevator of social attainment with printmaking. I could make one block and print it on T-shirts, then make a wheat paste of it, and then put the piece up in a gallery. A kid could be wearing my shirt in Chicago, say, and pass by the same wheat paste that's for sale as he's going to the gallery to see the thing behind glass. After the first year, Greg and I couldn't keep afloat. Then we were contacted by some indie rock bands and asked if we wanted to take the printing press on tour. Rather than print the band shirts that already existed, we would cut blocks and print shirts right there on tour. We had a summer tour with the band Spoon and it was amazing, it helped us reach a whole new audience. This monster is something that snowballed and took over us.

CP: So what is it about art, especially your guerrilla-style printmaking, that mixes so well with rock'n'roll?
JV: I think [printmaking] has the same indie spirit of the struggle and the hustle that has to occur. You're entering a market that's flooded with talent — how do you make yourself stand out? Half of it is luck and half of it is showing up. Me and Greg looked like Stanford and Son when we showed up in a pickup truck, unshowered, our backs as crooked as a politician from sleeping on couches and bad motel beds, and the kids loved this. We looked like we struggled, and that got everyone excited.

CP: How does this on-the-road printmaking change the pieces that you make?
JV: One of the distinguishing factors of what we make is at some point there is an piece of preciousness that is lost. But there is an opportunity to make it so accessible and so immediate. Most printmakers have to wait for a show to come around, and they build up their work. Our studio is a Motel 6, we don't wait for a show. I can make a block, print a shirt, and hand it right over to someone. They didn't get it online, they're not waiting for it. It's guerrilla, but it also goes back to the roots of printmaking. We're able to spread the ink across the country.

CP: How is this going to work into Philagrafika?
JV: The big project we have planned is a thank you and an homage to the artists that donated prints to us. Whether it's blue-chip cats who were in the Whitney, or some obscure DIY guy with very little social skills but lots of talent. We started with 200 prints and now we have over 4,000. So what we're making is the Tower of Babel. Canvases from different artists from all across the country have been sewn together to make a 30-foot-tall tower in front of the Print Center. It's a thank you. Now we have six people working with us, so the whole Drive By Press will be there when it goes up. The print community that exists in Philly is one of the tightest in the country. The Print Center is great, and so is the DIY stuff over at Space 1026. It's a great range, whether it's low-brow, unibrow, or high-brow.

Ashley Peel Pinkham

Posted 2010-02-19 11:54:59

Thanks for the article, Julia! Just wanted to send along our address is 1614 Latimer (not 614) and Drive By Press will be here Wednesday, March 24 at 6pm to do their thing. Come and make your own custom printed t-shirt! It is FREE and open to the public!http://www.printcenter.org/pc_events.html

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