MADISON, WI.- In Tandem is a series of exhibitions that examine the collaborative and experimental nature of printmaking. Each installment pairs the work of two artists to highlight the medium’s capacity for innovation and dialogue. In this iteration, visiting artist Suzanne Caporael and Jason Ruhl, artist and Tandem Press collaborative printmaker, present a series of abstract collages born from their creative exchange, merging distinct visual languages into a unified exploration of form, texture, and color.

Caporael and Ruhl began working together at Tandem Press in 2008. In their respective roles as artist and printer, they slowly developed a shared vocabulary through the collaborative demands of printmaking. Over time, their working relationship evolved into a mutual admiration—so much so that they decided to embark on a new project, in a new medium, this time as equal creative partners.

Following an established set of rules, the work was exchanged through the mail over the course of several years. Working on multiple pieces at once, this back-and-forth process continued until a collage was considered finished, indicated by a note included with the artwork. If the receiver agreed with this decision, the piece was set aside.

What emerged is a visual call and response–the work of two different artists as it developed into a shared exploration of the nature of collaboration in all its dissonance and ultimate harmony.

Proceeds from the sale of works in this exhibition will directly fund graduate student fellowships at Tandem Press.

Jason Ruhl is an artist, a collaborative printmaker, and studio manager at Tandem Press. While at the press, he has worked with Derrick Adams, Suzanne Caporael, Michelle Grabner, Jeffery Gibson, Judy Pfaff, Alison Saar, Marie Watt, and Dyani White Hawk, among others. He received his BFA from Minnesota State University, Mankato, and his MFA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Suzanne Caporael has created more than sixty print editions over the course of her three-decade collaboration with Tandem Press. Her work is rooted in a deep exploration of perception, translating complex concepts—from the periodic table and tree rings to estuaries, ice, and time—into striking visual forms. A Guggenheim Fellow, Caporael has exhibited widely, and her work is held in numerous public and private collections, including the Carnegie Museum of Art, Chazen Museum of Art, Fogg Art Museum at Harvard University, High Museum of Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and the Whitney Museum of American Art, among others. She currently lives and works in Islesboro, Maine.