October 18 - December 30, 2024
Reinaldo Gil Zambrano
Reinaldo Gil Zambrano is an award-winning printmaking artist from Caracas, Venezuela, in Spokane, WA. RGZ began collecting unique stories from random social encounters that highlight the common aspects of the human identity that later enriched the visual narratives of his drawings, relief prints, installations, and murals from an early age.
Reinaldo is currently an assistant professor of Printmaking at Gonzaga University, Co-founder of the Spokane Print & Publishing Center, Art Commissioner for the state of Washington, and Spanish host of the #1 printmaking podcast: HELLO PRINT FRIEND
RGZ & Bird Murmuration. (2020) picture by Rajah Bose
His narrative raises questions of daily issues equally experienced by people across cultures and borders using relief printing as a storytelling tool for its illustration and reflection. He studies the universal idea of home and how it affects individual personalities by exploring iconography derived from the Majority World and fascinating storytelling inspired by Hispanic literature's magical realism and illustrations from the Venezuelan Rosana Farias.
His wordless visual narratives challenge the limitations of the written language and bring people together to celebrate the commonality of their collective experiences.
His desire to promote the printmaking practice has guided him to develop projects such as "First Vandal Steam Roller Project" and "The Ink Rally," where large carved pieces were printed on fabric using asphalt roller with the help of many printmaking enthusiasts. In addition, RGZ has been collaborating with local non-profits to develop the Spokane Print Fest. This venue celebrates all things print-related, where local universities, students, artists, instructors, and professors offered live printing demos and exhibited artwork to promote accessible printmaking to the rest of the community. Such projects have worked as communal developers and forces of integration between the Northwest's academic, artistic, and larger communities.