Craig Zammiello
Craig Zammiello is an artist and Master Printer with over 40 years of experience in all areas of printmaking. He is an author of a studio manual on photogravure, as well as Conversations from the Print Studio published by Yale University Press. He worked for 25 years at Universal Limited Art Editions, where he collaborated with numerous artists; notably Jasper Johns, Elizabeth Murray, James Rosenquist, Kiki Smith and Robert Rauschenberg. Currently, he is Master Printer at Two Palms working with Mel Bochner, Ellen Gallagher, Chris Offili, Elizabeth Peyton and Dana Schutz. Zammiello has exhibited his own work in the United States and abroad. His prints can be found in the collections of the Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Antwerp, Belgium, Yale University Art Gallery, and the Hoesch Museum in Duren, Germany.
Zammiello received an MFA from The State University of New York, Stony Brook in 1995. He is currently Adjunct Faculty at the School of the Arts at Columbia University. Zammiello has taught workshops and classes at New York University, Yale University, The Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop and the Flemish Center for the Graphic Arts in Belgium.
Can you tell us a bit about the process of making your work?
Craig working in his studio.
My work centers on printmaking as an end result. Since the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, out of necessity I’ve been focused on drawing. The challenge is that I’m never satisfied with only a single copy of a work. Luckily I own an Epson pigment inkjet printer that’s capable of printing on any properly surfaced-sized paper. It’s become the solution for my obsession with multiples and editions. The subject matter is trending towards a dark mash-up of interests that are always percolating in my head. Popular culture, pop icons themselves, history, natural science, nature, etc.
Famous Monsters of Filmland issue #291.
What are you working on at the moment?
At the moment, I’m preoccupied with horror movies - mostly from the thirties, forties, and fifties. My childhood passion with this subject matter was limited to the Saturday night horror movie and the monthly issue of Famous Monsters of Filmland. The sheer quantity of information and material available now plus the isolation of the pandemic has enabled me to revisit this obsession with a vengeance. The pandemic and the isolation it’s required, combined with the present climate of our country is easily influencing the malevolent subject matter I’m using.
That and a second childhood.
We were amazed to find out that these two works of yours were not drawings but prints! We know you are a Master Printer at Two Palms and know printmaking inside and out, but can you talk about the importance of drawing in your practice?
Craig Zammiello, Andree Melly, 2020. Pigmented Inkjet on 100% rag paper, 11 x 8.5 in.
These works start as drawings but then are digitized, tweaked for output and editioned as prints. I’ve been misquoting Degas for the last 30 years with “Painting is easy unless you know how to draw” (the actual quote is “Painting is easy when you don't know how, but very difficult when you do.”). Keeping my misquote in mind, I feel there’s a very thin line between the smoke and mirrors of illustrative rendering and that distinct magic where it’s pushed just a bit farther into a signature language of the particular artist. It’s a balance of these approaches that I struggle with for my own drawings.
What are some references you draw upon in your work? Are there any themes in particular that you like to focus on when creating?
The material that I reference focuses on both popular and unpopular culture. I’m fascinated with the Dark Triad of the human condition (narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy – sound like anyone?) and the effects it has on society. Maybe that’s why all the monsters of late.
Craig in front of his artwork.
Where are some of your favorite spaces that support contemporary art or design? Now that the art has an online presence, has that changed?
I grew up on Long Island, 45 minutes from NYC, every museum accessible. From the Met, the Brooklyn Museum of Art, the American Museum of Natural History, etc. A gold mine of collections that still inspire and educate. My heart will always belong to the Whitney when it was on Madison Avenue in the Breuer building. The first time I was spellbound by a contemporary work of art occurred there. 47 years later I still am. I feel a strong connection to Soho, despite its mall-like Disneyland quality. Fanelli’s is still there. Small galleries on the Lower East Side and Tribeca have become quite numerous in the last few years – I find them willing to take chances with the works exhibited - can be exciting and interesting. I’m not a fan of the Chelsea gallery scene, it has the appeal of a corporate emergency room.
Craig Zammiello’s work is included in “In the Cool of the Evening,” Oct. 30th – Dec. 30th. Visit his website or Instagram (@craigzammiello) to see more of his work.