44 Last Suppers by the Numbers: Deconstructing a Masterpiece
Lecture & Reception with the Artist to Follow

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Artist/Printmaker Pete McCracken (Portland, Ore.) recalls the blood, sweat, and tears behind a three year long silkscreen project.

Pete McCracken, founder/owner operator of Crack Press, Art & Design Serigraph studio in Portland, Oregon, brings a show 'n tell presentation depicting the intensely complicated process of creating a massive edition of 44-color, hand-printed, 42.5” x 85” serigraph prints and the complex, intricate, personal journey that led him to this seemingly inevitable project.

Peek behind the curtain into the inner workings and creation of 44 Last Suppers, an edition of large-format, serigraph mono prints (based on a paint-by-numbers set) created by Pete for Portland advertising legend and artist, Jim Riswold. This Paint-By-Numbers Last Supper project, originally intended as Jim’s seminal body of artwork, marked his debut into the art world.

Although this talk unfolds the process, with behind-the-scenes commentary on the production of the prints, it also interweaves the fascinating story of how, over a period of a decade, diverse threads came together to create it. Pete traces these threads from when he graduated from art college through to the beginning of the project and describes how circumstances, people and their individual stories converged to create the perfect storm from which this creation emerges.

Pete will have on hand out-takes and proofs from the 44 Last Suppers edition as well as other large format serigraphs created at his studio. McCracken owns and operates Portland Type, a design studio with a focus on creative, art direction, brand and type design - recent projects include brand typefaces for REI and Columbia Sportswear.

Q&A about the project and process will be encouraged.

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Clientele
Columbia Sportswear, REI, Adidas, Dr. Martens, Starbucks, Nike, Target, MTV, SPORE-Electronic Arts, McMenamins, Jantzen, New Seasons Market and TaylorMade Golf. Portland advertising/design firms Wieden+Kennedy, Cinco Design, North and Ziba Design

Publications – Featured work
Eye, Print, New York Times, IDEA, Novuum, I.D., Creativity, U&Lc, IDn, Communication Arts, Letter Fountain (Taschen 2011), The Case and Point

Art Shows - Solo and Group
SF MoMA, Savage Gallery, Basil Hayward Gallery, IP Firehouse Gallery, Office/Portland, Disjecta, Store for a Month, Alysia Duckler Gallery, Pacific Northwest College of Art, Reed Arts Week, Place Gallery, Tiny Print Show, Clark College, Nemo Design and Zgraf Croatia

Pioneered the establishment of the Elizabeth Hawthorne Hunt Printmaking Scholarship at the Pacific Northwest College of Art
When & Where
Thu, Jun 8, 2017 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM MDT
Santa Fe Art Institute
1600 Saint Michaels Drive
Santa Fe, NM 87505