Groundwork: Charles Gaines at Paulson Fontaine Press

This exhibition explores the collaboration of LA–based artist Charles Gaines with Paulson Fontaine Press in Berkeley. In the installation, a forest of different species of trees from different places counters the idea of the tree as a universal form. Gaines applies systems and formulas to familiar symbols to expose the instability of representation and language. Through his tree prints, he demonstrates how perceptions of nature are shaped by culture and racial constructs. This exhibition presents Gaines’s Numbers and Trees print series alongside his related monumental painting from 2025, a recent acquisition on view for the first time.Our Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts is the sole repository of the complete and living archive of Paulson Fontaine Press. Long dedicated to expanding access to printmaking for women and artists of color, the press is celebrating its 30th anniversary.