John Wood: The System is Alive 

Upcoming exhibition celebrates genre-bending career of influential artist & Alfred University professor John Wood 

Buffalo, NY, October 3, 2023 –John Wood: The System is Alive, is set to open at the Burchfield Penney Art Center on M&T Second Friday, October 13, 2023. Curated by Joseph Scheer, the exhibition features a selection of Wood’s innovative artworks including sketchbooks, one-of-a-kind experimental artist’s books, drawings, print works, and collages. Together these works bring forth a profound reinterpretation and appreciation of an artist generally remembered as master photographer and educator. 

John Wood (1922-2012) taught with distinction at Alfred University from 1954 to 1987 where he developed a variety of studio art and foundation programs in the School of Art & Design. Wood was a revered and influential professor who described his aesthetic practice as “being in a state of drawing” and grounded in his personalized forms of “system drawing.” His work took on a range of subjects, serving as a platform for conversation on environmental, political, and social concerns. 

“This exhibition has been a long time coming,” says Joseph Scheer. “Discussions of it first started when the Institute for Electronic Arts began scanning Carol Wood’s archive of over 1000 artworks in 2017. A tremendous labor of love, the collection was narrowed down to just over 80 pieces. The exhibition takes a fresh look at John Wood’s life’s work through his practice of “System Drawing” and how it has evolved in his prints, collages, drawings, artist books, and sketchbooks.”
 

Carol Wood says, “It has truly been a pleasure working on this exhibit and bringing John Wood’s artwork back to the public. The diversity of the collection made the selection process wide- ranging and multi-faceted.” 

The opening of John Wood: The System is Alive will be celebrated on M&T Second Friday, October 13, 2023 from 5:30 – 8:00 pm at the Art Center. The evening will also feature live music by the modern folk band Tough Old Bird, all-ages art making, and the exhibition opening of A Clearing View: Charles E. Burchfield Reframed. John Wood: The System is Alive will remain on view through April 28, 2024. 

SUPPORT FOR THIS EXHIBITION 

This exhibition, curated by Joseph Scheer with support and advisement from Carol Wood and Andrew Deutsch has been organized with help from the supportive team at the
Institute for Electronic Arts at Alfred University. John Wood: The System is Alive is made possible through the generosity of The Margaret L. Wendt Foundation and the Tower Family Fund. Our sincere thanks, also, to Buffalo State University and our generous Burchfield Penney Members. Thanks to Carol Wood and family for all of their great work, and Anthony Bannon, PhD for his review and advice on the broad spectrum of the artist’s career. Special thanks to Laurie Snyder for her work in archiving Wood’s work and her research into his career and biography. 

ABOUT JOSEPH SCHEER 

Joseph Scheer is a Fulbright Scholar, Distinguished Professor of Print Media, and Director/Co- Founder of the Institute for Electronic Arts at the School of Art and Design, Alfred University, New York. He is Vice President of the International Academic Printmaking Alliance (IAPA) and is one of the Deputy Deans of the Central Academy of Fine Art’s International Print Institute (IPI), whose headquarters are in Beijing China. He has served as a panelist for the Fulbright Scholar Program for Mexico and Central America and he has been a panelist for the NYFA print and drawing grants. As an internationally exhibiting artist, he has had over 100 exhibitions and 70 visiting artist lectures, in locations spanning Europe, China, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States. He received an MFA from the University of New Mexico in 1987.
 Learn more at alfred.edu. 

ABOUT THE BURCHFIELD PENNEY ART CENTER 

Established in 1966 on the campus of SUNY Buffalo State University, the
Burchfield Penney Art Center is dedicated to the art and vision of renowned American artist Charles E. Burchfield (1893–1967) and the art and artists of Buffalo, NY, and the region. Learn more at burchfieldpenney.org. 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

October 3, 2023

Contact: Julia Norris 
norrisjl@buffalostate.edu 
716 878 3457 

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