Shark’s Ink: The Legend of Bud Shark and his Indelible Ink featured 85 prints by ten artists who created works on paper with Master Printer Bud Shark of Shark’s Ink in Lyons, Colorado.  The collection on view represented a survey of Shark’s studio since its inception in the mid-seventies. Shark has produced lithographs, monoprints, and woodcuts by renowned artists, largely from the United States. Curator, Cydney Payton, chose to present artists who worked with Shark for many years, engaging in a collaborative process that resulted in works that are technically and visually innovative. The approach employed at Shark’s studio is unique to the creative process, as the artist and the printer work side-by-side to manifest beautiful works. 

Not only was the studio enlivened by its location in Colorado, but also by the working environment created by Shark and his wife, Barbara. Their partnership contributed to the atmosphere and the historic nature of print studios, noted for blending the personal and the professional. The invited artists stayed at the Shark’s home while working, the studio often booming with music by Shark and many artist friends. A book of Budisms, quips, and witticisms, and a book filled with notes left by visiting artists add to the legend of Shark’s Ink. 

Artists included in this exhibition included John Buck (b.1946, Ames, Iowa), Enrique Chagoya (b.1953, Mexico City), Bernard Cohen (b.1933, London), Red Grooms (b.1937, Nashville, Tennessee), Don Ed Hardy (b.1945, Costa Mesa, California), Jane Hammond (b.1950, Bridgeport, Connecticut), Robert Kushner (b.1971, Pasadena, California), Hung Liu (b.1948, Changchun, China), Hollis Sigler (b.1948, Gary, Indiana), and Betty Woodman (b.1930, Norwalk, Connecticut). 

Bud Shark was born in 1946 in Devils Lake, North Dakota. He received a BS from the University of Wisconsin, Madison and an MA from the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque. In 1976, he opened Shark’s Lithography Ltd in Boulder, Colorado, and relocated the studio as Shark’s Ink to Lyons, Colorado in 1998. He has been a member of the International Fine Print Dealers Association since 1991. Works created in collaboration with Bud Shark and leading contemporary artists have been exhibited at numerous respected institutions, including Denver Art Museum; National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C; and Museo del Territorio Biellese, Italy.