“Color & Complexity: 30 years at Durham Press,” showcasing fine art prints on paper created at Durham Press in upper Bucks County, has been extended through Sept. 20 at the Allentown Art Museum.

The exhibition has been extended after the Allentown Art Museum closed because of the coronavirus pandemic. The date of the museum’s reopening has to be announced.

Thirty years of innovative printmaking by artists experimenting with a variety of printmaking methods grace the walls of the Rodale, Scheller and Fowler Galleries. The exhibition was seen prior to the museum’s March 14 closing.

Emil Lukas is one of the veteran printmakers whose work is included in the exhibition.

The Stockertown-based artist was born in 1964 in Pittsburgh and received a BFA at Edinboro University in 1986. Afterward, Lukas furthered his education through an apprenticeship with Swiss artist Not Vital.

“When you make something, and you believe it has never been made before, it’s a high,” Lukas said as he stood with his work at the Feb. 20 “Third Thursday” reception.

Lukas explained the processes and collaborations behind creating “Bubble-up,” a 2013, portfolio of two etchings and seven screenprints.

The works are arranged in three rows of three framed prints each.

“I have been working seasonally with common fly larva,” says Lukas as he described how he created “Anatomy,” the center print of the grouping.

“It’s a way of making a painting or a drawing that can use one line or can use millions of lines that have an intention that’s different than a human intention,” he adds.

The imagery for the screenprint was created by larvae dragging ink across glass as part of the process.

“My mom is still really an important part of who I am and what I do,” says Lukas, “She was very involved with fiber arts.” He says that patterns and textures from his mother’s projects influenced his abstract work.

Durham Press founder Jean-Paul Russell talks about how he went to work for Rupert Smith, Andy Warhol’s printer, in New York City, after graduating high school in New Hope.

“It was a remarkable experience,” the master printer said of being able to learn firsthand about the international contemporary art world,” says Russell.

The Bucks County-based workshop and fine arts publisher is co-owned by Russell and his wife and business partner, Ann Marshall.

Among the groundbreaking artists celebrating their connection to Durham Press in the retrospective exhibit at the Museum are Hurvin Anderson, Polly Apfelbaum, Roland Fischer, Chitra Ganesh, John Giorno, Jacob Hashimoto, Michael Heizer, Beatriz Milhazes, James Nares, Mickalene Thomas and Ray Charles White.

The 12 artists worked with Durham Press in developing unique methods and combinations of technologies to suit each project.

An example of this is Heizer’s “Dragged Mass.”

During the printmaking process, the artist marked the metal plate by having a bulldozer drive over it.

The Allentown Art Museum is located at 31 N. Fifth St., Allentown. Gallery hours are 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday, 11 a.m.-8 p.m. on the third Thursdays, and noon-4 p.m. Sunday.

For more information on the museum’s reopening, visit allentownartmuseum.org or call 610-432-4333.