We sat down with senior curator Joann Moser, to ask some questions about the
Multiplicity exhibition, which opened recently at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Below is an excerpt; visit the museum's blog
Eye Level for the
full interview.
Can you explain what you mean by Multiplicity?
Joann: Multiplicity has many different meanings in the context of this exhibition. All the works of art are editioned prints or multiple originals. Many of them are multipart works: series, sequences, several sheets that comprise a single image, successive images in an artist's book. Multiplicity also refers to the variety of artists, styles, and printmaking techniques included in this selection of prints.
The term also refers to the way several of the prints were made. 
In Chuck Close's Self-Portrait, for example, the final image was created by the successive printing of more than 100 screens. From a distance the image looks almost like a photograph, but as you approach the print, it breaks up into a grid of small, colorful abstractions that together create the final image.
What can visitors expect when they visit this exhibition?
Joann: The selection of prints presents an overview of American art of the past three decades. Many of the leading artists, styles, ideas are represented. What I tried to present are some of the most interesting, intriguing, and visually stimulating prints that serve as a touchstone for the vitality of American art.
If you can't make it to see the exhibition in person, you can see images of all the prints in an online slideshow or view installation photos on on Flickr. Multiplicity will be on display at the Smithsonian American Art Museum until March 11, 2012.
