David Wolske uses a combination of contemporary and historical processes to transfigure letters, numbers, and punctuation into visual poetry. His abstractions use color and negative space to communicate the more emotional aspects of written language while inviting the viewers to create their own interpretations.
Wolske’s cross-disciplinary practice combines digital design tools with the traditions of letterpress and fine art printmaking. He has two distinct modes of working. At times he works under clear formal rules executed using controlled methods, translating his digital compositions into print on a Vandercook cylinder proofing press with his collection of antique wood and metal types. The predictable nature of this approach gives the artist and his work a sense of mastery. However, he will also improvise at the press with no preconceived notions. This strategy is rooted in curiosity and wonder. Its unpredictable nature leads to learning and discovery and continuously drives his practice forward.
Blending new and old technologies is ultimately about working with the building blocks of language, which themselves are an ancient, continuously evolving technology. Wolske invented a printing technique and named it isotype printing, a portmanteau of the words isolate and type. By using formal elements of type, like stems, bowls, and serifs, he recasts text into a new kind of tool for communication. The resulting prints offer conceptual dichotomies such as control/chaos, symmetry/asymmetry, and harmony/dissonance.
By deconstructing language to express a more visceral form of communication, Wolske’s work playfully subverts the relationship between the hand and the machine. Viewers are often surprised when they learn or realize that the deceptively simple shapes they see in these enigmatic compositions are remixed letters and numbers. By abstracting the alphabet, Wolske transforms the ordinary, or even banal, into something new and unexpected.
DAVID WOLSKE
American (b. 1975)
EDUCATION
2005
MFA Graphic Design, Indiana University
2000
BA Studio Art, Marian University
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2018
Re:Wording, Robert E. and Martha Hull Lee Gallery, Oxford, OH
2017
David Wolske: Letterpress, School of Visual Concepts, Seattle, WA
Lexicology, Johnson Center for Fine Arts, Franklin, IN
2016
Synæsthetica, Haley Gallery, Nashville, TN
David Wolske: Abstract Letterpress, Ditchling Museum of Art and Craft, East Sussex, UK
2015
David Wolske: Letterpress, Hamilton Wood Type and Printing Museum, Two Rivers, WI
Vessels, Park Gallery, Finch Lane, Salt Lake City, UT
TWO-PERSON EXHIBITIONS
2016
Correlation Matrix, Vida Sačić and David Wolske, DeVos Art Museum, Marquette, MI
2015
Mary Toscano and David Wolske, The Gallery at Library Square, Salt Lake City, UT
2014
Ryoichi Suzuki and David Wolske,Braithwaite Fine Art Gallery, Cedar City, UT
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2021
Ink on Paper, OC Great Park Gallery, Irvine, CA
5 × 5 × 5, River Oaks Arts Center, Alexandria, LA
2020
New Prints 2020/Summer, International Print Center New York, New York, NY
CASPFest, Charles Adams Studio Project, Lubbock, TX
Texas Juried Exhibition, Artspace111, Fort Worth, TX
2D National Juried Exhibition, Dallas Metro Arts Contemporary, Plano, TX
Tangible Type, Du Charme Edmann Gallery, Manitowoc, WI
Hullabaloo 2020, Christel Dehaan Fine Arts Center Gallery, Indianapolis, IN
Under Pressure, The Lincoln Center, Fort Collins, CO
2019
TIPO: An Exhibition, Arquipélago-Centro de Artes Contemporâneas, Portugal
Original: Juried Exhibition of Contemporary Prints, CTAC-Traverse City, MI
NEXT 2019, Sabine Street Studios, Houston, TX
CASPFest, Charles Adams Studio Project, Lubbock, TX
New Impressions, Hamilton Wood Type and Printing Museum, Two Rivers, WI
Gadzook!, GOCA Downtown, Colorado Springs, CO
2018
The Space Between, Beatrice M.Haggerty Gallery, Irving, TX
Why Letterpress?, Red Door Press, Des Moines, IA
2017
Full Court Press North American Juried Print Competition, Corpus Christi, TX
Letterpress Hullabaloo, Christel DeHaan Fine Arts Center, Indianapolis, IN
2015
Beyond Printmaking Landmark Arts Gallery, Lubbock, TX
Next: 12 Visual Art Fellows Rio Gallery, Salt Lake City, UT
2014
Stand Out Prints Highpoint Center for Printmaking, Minneapolis, MN
Outside the Margin Pyramid Atlantic Art Center, Silver Spring, MD
Ink, Press, Repeat William Paterson University, Wayne, NJ
EXHIBITIONS JURIED
2018
Emergence: An Exhibition of Student Works, CVAD Foundations Program, UNT, Denton, TX
New Impressions, International, Hamilton Wood Type and Printing Museum, Two Rivers, WI
2016
All Student Show, Eastern Illinois University, Charleston, IL
2012
Counterform, Special Collections Gallery, J.Willard Marriott Library, Salt Lake City, UT
2009
Counterform, Special Collections Gallery, J.Willard Marriott Library, Salt Lake City, UT
2007
Chicago Design Archive, The Society of Typographic Arts, Chicago, IL
FELLOWHIPS & RESIDENCIES
2020
HMCT 2020 LHM Educator Fellowship, ArtCenter College of Design, Pasadena, CA
2017
Windgate Project Manager Fellowship, Hamilton Wood Type and Printing Museum, Two Rivers, WI
2016
Visiting Artist in Residence, Hatch Show Print, Nashville, TN
2014
Visual Arts Fellow, Utah Arts and Museums
BIBLIOGRAPHY
2020
Christian Peterson, Artist Profile, “Meet David Wolske: Typo/Graphic Designer + Artist” Shoutout DFW, https://shoutoutdfw.com/meet-david-wolske-typo-graphic-designer-artist/,September 1.
2018
Kristen Armstrong, Artist Profile, “Meet David Wolske,” VoyageDallas, http://voyagedallas.com/interview/meet-david-wolske-david-wolske-typographic-designer-artist-denton/,October 25.
2015
Anna Chayasatit, Artist Profile, “David Wolske,” People of Print, http://www.peopleofprint.com, February 2015.
Shawn Rossiter, Interview, “David Wolske: Artist Profile,” 15 Bytes, http://www.artistsofutah.org, January 2015.
COLLECTIONS
Brigham Young University
Columbia University
Cornell University
Hamilton Wood Type and Printing Museum
Indiana University
Mills College
Newberry Library
New York University
Oberlin College
Oregon State University
Rochester Institute of Technology
Swarthmore College
University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Santa Barbara
University of Arizona
University of Delaware
University of Georgia
University of Iowa
University of Miami
University of Texas
University of Utah
University of Wisconsin, Madison
Virginia Commonwealth University, Qatar
Wells College, Book Arts Center
Wesleyan University
TEACHING
2017–Present
Assistant Professor, College of Visual Arts and Design, University of North Texas
2015–17
Visiting Assistant Professor School of Art, Architecture and Design, Indiana University
2018–15
Adjunct Assistant Professor, Department of Art and Art History and School of Architecture, University of Utah
2008–15
Faculty, Book Arts Program and Red Butte Press, University of Utah
2007–08
Instructor, Center for Book and Paper Arts, Columbia College Chicago
2006–07
Visiting Assistant Professor, School of Art, Architecture and Design, Indiana University