Gordon Mortensen | Carving Color

EXHIBITION: July 3, 2025 - August 30, 2025

OPENING: First Thursday, July 3, 6-8 pm

Gordon Mortensen, Carmel Point. Reduction woodcut.

Davidson Galleries is pleased to present Carving Color, opening Thursday June 5th. This exhibition features vibrant reduction woodcuts from contemporary American artist, Gordon Mortensen. A master of the challenging reduction woodcut technique, Mortensen shows how vast spaces can be preserved on paper in radiant color. 

Gordon Mortensen, Steward's Cove. Reduction woodcut.

Gordon Mortensen, Matilija Poppies. Reduction woodcut.

Using only one woodblock for each piece, Mortensen prints one color at a time, carving out a new layer between each printing, finishing with most of the block cut away. With reduction woodcut, each color must be carefully planned because there is no recreating a layer once carving for the next has begun. These beautifully constructed layers build an incredibly deep space on the paper. Whether in the forest, in a field of flowers, or overlooking the seaside from the cliffs, we see the landscape as it is: vast, rich, and powerful. We can sense the time it would take to hike to the distant hills, or the force the white waves carry as they reach the shore. Mortensen cuts through the woodblock the same way that rock formations cut through the sky or water carves out channels. Each work is specific to a true place, the actual season, and a particular moment, but captures a universal awe for nature and its magnitude.

Gordon Mortensen, Matilija Poppies (detail). Reduction woodcut.

“Art …is my addiction, my drug, my life. I am compelled to do it.” -Gordon Mortensen

Gordon Mortensen (American, b. 1938)

was born in North Dakota in 1938 and is now based in California. He received his BFA from the Minneapolis School of Art and attended the graduate school of the University of Minnesota in St. Paul. He has taught at the St. Paul Art Museum, the Rochester Art Center, and the Minnetonka Art Center. He first exhibited extensively in the Midwest before participating  in the Brooklyn Museum’s National Print exhibition in 1976, after which his work has been shown throughout the US and is held in the collections of many American institutions. Mortensen is considered one of the contemporary masters of reduction woodcut printmaking. He begins with a watercolor study, then transfers the image to a woodblock and carves the first layer. One of the most labor-intensive, meticulous  printmaking techniques, each of Mortensen’s woodcuts can use up to 64 colors and up to 45 press runs, which can take three months to complete. Focusing on landscapes and the natural world, Mortensen’s work is known for its technical excellence, creating a painterly quality with rich, layered colors; balance; and natural woodgrain textures.

Gordon Mortensen, Wild Iris. Reduction woodcut.

Featured artist: Gordon Mortensen

John Sloan, X-Rays (Flouroscope and Department...). Etching.

View previous exhibition walk-throughs online at our YouTube Channel. You can also view more from each artist on their collection pages at the individual links below.

June's Featured Artist:

Artemio Rodríguez