THE GERMIES
aka
the Germ Awards in Print
An annual award recognizing artists and artworks in the printmaking field. This award is decided by the Council for Germs (Isai) emphasizing a commitment to print culture and its future. Awards are given in eleven categories with honorable mentions.
Print is not dead, but you knew that.
NO CASH PRIZE SORRY!
Best Exhibition(s) Surrounding Print Culture
Winner: Sensacional de diseño mexicano - MUSA Museo de las Artes (GDL)
Honorable Mentions:
- Robert Rauschenberg at Gemini G.E.L: Celebrating Four Decades of Innovation and Collaboration (GEMINI G.E.L.; Los Angeles, CA)
- Black Zine Fair (Powerhouse Arts; Brooklyn, NY)
- BABS NEWSTAND (Bread & Salt; San Diego, CA)
Best Booth at IFPDA (International Fine Print Dealers Association)
Winner: Black Women of Print at Booth A43
Honorable Mentions:
- Krakow Witkin Gallery (Boston, MA)
- The Fabric Workshop and Museum (Philadelphia, PA)
- Berggruen Gallery(San Francisco, CA)
Excellence in Screen Print
Winner: Must we try to do our best? by Deanna Barahona, Screen print on ceramic tile, grout, wood, acrylic, and glitter
Honorable Mentions:
- Fragmentos del Por-Venir, Felipe Baeza, Keigo Prints, Inc.
- Skull, Brook Hsu, Mundus Press, Du-good Press
- In Grandma’s Room, Nicholas D’Ornellas
Excellence in Lithography
Winner: Mictlantecutli by Guillermo Orduña, Lithograph, La Buena Impresión Taller de Litografía
Honorable Mentions:
- The One That Made Milwaukee Famous, Grant M. Brownlow
- After the Hunt, Emmett Merrill, Maine College of Art & Design Printmaking
- Limestone Bird, Em Miller, Shoestring Press
Excellence in Intaglio
Winner: 10:17am - horse baggie by Chloe Crookall, Soft-ground etching with CMYK screenprint, Printed by the artist
Honorable Mentions:
- The Road Not Advertised, Andrea Kornbluth
- My Divine Vanity, Sonia Rosa Kahn
- Corona de Nopal, Gabriel García Roman
Excellence in Cyanotype
Winner: I don’t cry myself to sleep anymore (Thank you) by Bex McCharen, Cyantype printed cotton, tear soaked tissues collected during divorce, recycled plastic bags, embroidery thread, Printed by the artist
Honorable Mentions:
- Till Evermore, Yannick Lowery/Severe Paper
- Circo, Maroma, Teatro o Deporte?, Ernesto Cabral de Luna
- @ajthatfrisbeeguy, BlueLeafPrints/Morgan
Excellence in Relief
Winner: Tire Shoe Print #1 by Erica Enriquez, Tire shoes, house paint, dropcloth, and nails, Printed by artist
Honorable Mentions:
- The Left Handed Path, Suspended on the Wings of a Dove, Descending from a Star, Alyssa Aviles, Mullowney Printing Company
- Bargaining, Mitchell Poon
- Morning Glories, Lauren Krukowski
Excellence in Collagraph, Monoprint, Etc.
Winner: Matt and Kayden (Sweat) by Johnny Espitia, Acrylic transfer, ink, paper, and aluminum
Honorable Mentions:
- Birth of Athena, teke cocina
- Blue Bayou (For Your Consideration), Iain Wall
- This is the time, and this is the record of the time, Katey Rissi
Excellence in Digital/ Riso/ Offset Print
Winner: Undertow Postcard Project by Untertow Editions/Nathan Storey, Archival Pigment Prints
Honorable Mentions:
- Mapped and shifted, Walker Hewitt, Harvest & Gather
- Posters, Jean Pierre Consuegra
- Mascaras, Hugo Gonzalez, Secret Riso Club
The Alijah Webb Award for Zines/ Newspaper/ Art Books
Winner: In Them We All Exist, Lesbian Herstory Archives, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, New York Public Library, Kiahra Read + Kimberly Henderson, Zine, Edition of 300
Honorable Mentions:
- A Rant About ‘Technology’, Skeuomorph Press, Ursula K. Le Guin
- Amygdala, Club Rambutan’s 4th issue/magazine, Amygdala
- Crossing, MTHR TRSA + Miss Ma’amShe
2025 GERM PRINT CHAMPION
Watson Frank, for excellence across print mediums
In its inaugural year, the Germies focused on individual works rather than an artist’s full year output, except for the Print Champion.
The selection is biased and rushed.
Best Exhibition(s) Surrounding Print Culture
Winner: Elizabeth Catlett: A Black Revolutionary Artist and All That It Implies, Hiroshige’s 100 Famous Views of Edo, AND Copy Machine Manifestos: Artists Who Make Zines - Brooklyn Museum
Honorable Mentions:
- The Art of Food: From the Collections of Jordan Schnitzer and His Family Foundation (The Baker Museum; Naples, Florida)
- Mexican Prints at the Vanguard (The Met; New York, NY)
- New Voices: Ritual (Print Center New York; New York, NY)
Best Booth at IFPDA (International Fine Print Dealers Association)
Winner: Carolina Nitsch Gallery (NYC) with Louise Bourgeois’s The Puritan Suite, 1990-1997
Honorable Mentions:
- PLANTHOUSE Gallery (NYC)
- Durham Press (Durham, NC)
- Childs Gallery (Boston, MA)
Excellence in Screen Print
Winner: Twilight’s Last Gleaming by Hank Willis Thomas, 28-color silkscreen, Edition of 75
Published by Artspace, Printed by Du-Good Press
Honorable Mentions:
- Drag Rules, OK? (For Hattie),Tabboo!, Visual AIDS, Powerhouse Arts, Gordon & Gordon Robichaux, Karma Gallery
- This Was Here,Alfonso Gonzalez Jr., Kol-bee
- Tattoed Binder, Mac Jackson
Excellence in Lithography
Winner: Bok Choy Birdies by Mitchell Poon, Photoplate lithography on BFK Rives, Edition of 23, Printed by the artist
Honorable Mentions:
- ojo, Johanna Velasquez, Printed at La Buena Impresión
- She Would’ve Loved It, Watson Frank, Printed at Ox-Bow
- After the raw and the cooked by Levi-Strauss, Anietié Ekanem
Excellence in Intaglio
Winner: Cecilia; Queer Icon Series by Gabriel García Román, Photogravure with chine-colle and silkscreen, Printed by the artist
Honorable Mentions:
- 5:11pm, Chloe Crookall
- Dove, Valerie Hammond
- Portrait, Dabora Choi, Printed at MGC
Excellence in Cyanotype
Winner: (working title) by Stevia Ndoe, Cyantype negative on glass, Printed by the artist
Honorable Mentions:
- Art Rackets,Ivan Forde/Luther Davis, Powerhouse Arts
- Sister Comrades II, Praise Fuller
- Unmarked, Clara Jeanne Reed
Excellence in Relief
Winner: Contract Labor by Benjamin Muñoz, Chine-colle woodcut, Edition of 5, Printed by artist at Robert Blackburn Printshop
Honorable Mentions:
- Eucalyptus Scaffolding II, Emma Sarver
- 曾 Seal Engraving, Vincent Chong
- Chapala, Rocío Vera
Excellence in Collagraph, Monoprint, Etc.
Winner: A.P.T. (Air, Pressure, Transfer) by Sok Song, Graphite monotypes on dry-cleaning plastic, Printed by the Artist at Yale School of the Art
Honorable Mentions:
- Nocturne No. 1, Ana Benaroya, Two Palms Press
- Carroll Street Bookshelf, Will Muschenheim
- Deadline Pressure, Giulia Cancro, Printed at MGC
Excellence in Digital/ Riso/ Offset Print
Winner: The Dyke Project Manifesto, The Dyke Project, Offset lithograph on Munken 170gsm, Printed by Calverts Co-op
Honorable Mentions:
- OUR HOME takeaway, Cecilia Caldiera, Subtitled.nyc
- DTHRR Prints, Secret Riso Club, Armon Naeini & Usman Jamil
- Day + Night, Khari Johnson-Ricks
Excellence in Zines/ Newspaper/ Art Books
Winner: The New York War Crimes, Writers Against the War on Gaza, Free Newspaper
Honorable Mentions:
- Gay Boy Politics, zine, Will Lyman
- God Came Down on Me, comic, Ryan Brennan
- No LASH?, zine, MTHR TRSA
2024 GERM PRINT CHAMPION
Victoria Reshetnikov, for excellence across print mediums