New 808 Gallery Show Celebrates the Perfect Imperfection of Printmaking in the Age of AI
Boston Printmakers 2026 North American Print Biennial showcases some of the best artists in a medium that is constantly pushing boundaries
New 808 Gallery Show Celebrates the Perfect Imperfection of Printmaking in the Age of AI
Boston Printmakers 2026 North American Print Biennial showcases some of the best artists in a medium that is constantly pushing boundaries
This article was originally published in BU Today on October 23, 2026. By Cody Mello-Klein. Photos by Lily Jurman (COM’26)
EXCERPT
Strolling around to view the latest exhibit at Boston University’s 808 Gallery, it’s almost hard to believe that all of the pieces on display are prints. A black-and-white near-photographic print of a nocturnal cityscape hangs alongside a colorful acrylic painted, ribbon trailing screenprint of Native American symbols, and an image of green guardian lions made using a LEGO tray.
Yet the beauty of The Boston Printmakers 2026 North American Print Biennial, on view through November 21, is in its diverse representation of an equally diverse form of expression.
Over 600 artists submitted more than 2,000 prints for this prestigious exhibit. The 2026 iteration of the Boston Printmakers’ travelling showcase of printmaking excellence features 120 prints selected by this year’s juror, Esther Adler, curator at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. The Biennial has a long history with BU: the University hosted the event between 1999 and 2009, in 2013, and, most recently, in 2023.
Printmaking is a centuries-old medium that involves transferring ink from a prepared surface made of wood, metal, stone, or silkscreen, among other materials, that is then transferred onto another surface to make an imprinted piece of art. Over the years, as technology has developed, so too have the techniques printmakers use to create their art.
Despite the many techniques used in the work on display in the 808 Gallery, the pieces are united by a sense that a human hand played a part in their creation.
Printmaking as a medium is built on techniques that embrace the perfect imperfection of human artistry, explains Deborah Cornell, chair and professor in the College of Fine Arts printmaking department and cochair of the exhibit.
“One thing AI doesn’t have is hands,” Cornell says. “These prints are made from drawings. They’re made from observation, made from life, made from being. The colors are because of perception, not because of some mathematical [algorithm].”
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Joshua Brennan, a Boston-based artist, exhibit cochair, and CFA lecturer in printmaking, is among the creators featured in this year’s exhibit.
With Subcutaneous Field, Brennan reimagines an artistic tradition. There is a long history of artists painting a curtain to conceal their work, tricking viewers into thinking they need to peek behind it. Brennan printed a colorful image and then crafted a physical curtain, onto which he printed a second version of the same image, creating an illusory effect that makes it hard to distinguish between foreground and background.
“This becomes more of an interplay between the forms and how they line up,” Brennan says.
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ABOUT THE BOSTON PRINTMAKERS 2026 NORTH AMERICAN PRINT BIENNIAL
On view through November 21 at 808 Gallery
Tuesdays – Saturdays, 11am – 5pm
The exhibition, juried by Esther Adler, Curator at the Museum of Modern Art, NY (MoMA), features a broad array of contemporary prints and artists books, spanning traditional to contemporary/integrated media approaches, with both emerging and established artists from across North America. The exhibition includes examples of etching, lithography, woodcut, linocut, screenprint, digital printmaking and dimensional works, in which the artists explore a rich diversity of conceptual and narrative content.
Photo by Miori Kino (COM’27)