LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT
MONOTYPE GUILD OF NEW ENGLAND: 40 YEARS OF UNIQUE PRINTS
SIXTH NATIONAL MONOTYPE/MONOPRINT JURIED EXHIBITION
For four decades, the Monotype Guild of New England has championed the art of the monotype and monoprint, fostering a vibrant community of printmakers dedicated to the expressive potential of one-of-a-kind prints. MGNE celebrates this milestone with Monotype Guild of New England: 40 Years of Unique Prints, a national juried exhibition showcasing the breadth and innovation of contemporary printmaking.
Featuring works from artists across the United States, this exhibition highlights the dynamic and ever-evolving nature of monotype—a process that embraces spontaneity, experimentation, and individuality. Unlike traditional printmaking techniques that produce multiples, monotypes and monoprints yield singular impressions, making each print a distinctive exploration of form, texture, and color.
Monotype printmaking, although often overlooked in the history of printmaking, has played a crucial role in artistic experimentation. This exhibition also honors four hundred years of this unique and expressive medium. From Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione’s first experiments with ink drawings on copper plates in the 16th century to Edgar Degas’s embrace of the medium’s spontaneous nature and endless possibilities in the 19th century to Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso’s expressions of playfulness and whimsy in the 20th century, monotype printmaking flourished and inspired. In the mid-20th and 21st centuries, artists continued to explore and revolutionize this medium, including David Hammon’s use of his own body as a tool for mark-making and Kiki Smith’s ethereal, textured body imagery to make powerful statements about identity. Monotype printmaking endures as a liberating and powerful force influencing how artists engage with materiality, process, and artistic expression.
Presented at the Art Complex Museum, a longtime supporter of printmaking, this exhibition commemorates MGNE’s rich history and celebrates the enduring vitality of the monotype medium. Through an array of approaches—from painterly and gestural to highly detailed and layered—these prints reflect the unique visions of artists who continue to push the boundaries of this versatile and compelling art form. Monotype Guild of New England: 40 Years of Unique Prints exemplifies how traditional printmaking techniques can be reimagined in a contemporary context.
Join us in celebrating forty years of MGNE, where tradition meets innovation, and every print tells a story of creative discovery.
Sincerely,
Rebecca Leopoldina Torres
President, Monotype Guild of New England
May 2025
ABOUT THE PRESIDENT:
REBECCA LEOPOLDINA TORRES is a professional printmaker, photographer and curator based in Everett, MA. She began her foray into printmaking in 2012 through a workshop with Selma Bromberg as a way to explore different techniques in printing with photographic images. However, she quickly fell in love with the spontaneity and innovation of working with monotypes and monoprints. In addition to being elected President of the Monotype Guild of New England in 2015, she is a co-founder of the Banter Artists Guild and member of the Cambridge Art Association. Her artwork has been exhibited in galleries, museums, and print media across the globe.
Leopoldina received her Bachelor’s degree in Visual Anthropology at Harvard University and is currently on staff in the Communications Department at the Harvard Art Museums.
R. Leopoldina Torres & Kathy Jenkins, “Remnant, Hudson Valley,” 2019. Monotype.
