We are pleased to present a suite of 3 etchings, Being Manwaring
Artist talk Wednesday, May 10th, 6PM

Annie Coggan’s practice as an artist and designer investigates alternative methods for understanding historical and archival objects. Hand drawing is her primary medium and method for understanding historical visual culture. This suite of etchings is inspired by Robert Manwaring, a peripheral member of the great London cabinet makers of the late eighteenth century. In 1765, Manwaring published The Cabinet and Chair-Maker’s Real Friend and Companion or The Whole System of Chair: Making Made Plain and Easy, and to date, Coggan has hand-drawn sixty-seven of the chairs featured in Manwaring’s guide; embracing them as an example of the energy and exuberance of the printing culture of eighteenth-century London.


Annie Coggan is currently a fellow at the Bard Graduate Center researching Manwaring. To better understand his experience creating the catalog, Annie came to Russell Janis studio to create a series of copper plate etchings. These prints were created in an effort to embody Manwaring’s work, informed by the layouts in the original text, his printing process, as well as a builder’s knowledge that informed his drawings.
Annie Coggan will give an artist’s talk on the work at Russell Janis, Wednesday, May 10th, 6PM, alongside a printing demonstration by Janis Stemmermann.


Annie Coggan
Being Manwaring, 2023
A suite of 3 etchings on Rives BFK paper
Printed in an edition of 15
Paper size: 13 x 18 inches, plates 9 x 6 inches
Printed by Janis Stemmermann
Published by Russell Janis Projects, Brooklyn NY
$350
Available for purchase

Annie Coggan has a multidimensional practice that exists as artwork, interior design, writing and teaching. She received her BFA from Bennington College in Vermont and her Master of Architecture from the Southern California Institute of Architecture in Los Angeles. Her work investigates the relationship between storytelling and built form, with a particular interest in history, biography, and material culture. She is a principal at Coggan + Crawford Architecture and Design, and is currently on the faculty at Pratt Institute and The School of Visual Arts in New York City. Coggan is a native of Atlanta, Georgia, and currently based in Brooklyn, NY.
