It's been 10 years since world renowned artist and Tulsa native Joe Andoe has exhibited work in his hometown. When he opened an exhibition of prints titled "Andoe Works on Paper" at Aberson Exhibits, 36th and Peoria, he not only reintroduced Tulsa audiences to his work, but he also introduced them to works dearly loved but rarely shown.

Andoe is best known for his large-scale paintings of horses, other mammals and pastoral scenes, but for this show he'll exhibit prints, of which the subjects of some are familiar. Also included in the collection is a series of tulip monoprints on wood veneer. The monoprints are one of a kind; their plates were destroyed after their printing.

In his artist's statement (which reads a lot like his highly acclaimed autobiography Jubilee City: Packed with fragmented but powerful sentences, straightforward and honest, that detail how he arrived at a particular point), Andoe describes how he came to love printmaking.

In 1989, he relates, Dick Solomon, president of Pace Prints, an extension of Pace Gallery in New York, invited Andoe to create some prints there.

"It felt odd having these grown men and women pouring out elbow grease to actualize one of my marks or ideas," writes Andoe.

In that first session with Pace, after a bout of "lollygagging" that cost Pace thousands of dollars in wasted time and manpower, Andoe made five prints, published in an edition of 50, priced at $5,000 for the set that sold out, earning him an invitation back to Pace.

Since then, the artist writes, he's probably created more than 100 prints and 100 monoprints (although he's lost count).

"I liked everything about printmaking. I liked going to the shop and hanging out with people who worked with their hands, and I liked working with these printmakers who became my collaborators, who at times were like record producers who understood my strengths and knew the possibilities the medium could give me," Andoe writes.

"Plus, I got work that looked like nothing else. Picasso once said that he liked printmaking so well he would do it even if he would have only one print from a plate. So would I," the artist writes.

Andoe has exhibited his prints in New York, Japan, Finland and Boston; and Jeff Martin, local author, founder of BookSmart Tulsa and a consultant to Aberson Exhibits, said that, when he was organizing the show, he specifically wanted to exhibit Andoe's prints, work "not necessarily associated with him."

Martin met Andoe whe n he organized a book signing for the artist at Barnes and Noble, where he was then employed.

Andoe agreed and, with the assistance of his brother, Scot, who represents the artist's prints through RS Fine Art in south Tulsa, arranged the exhibition.

"Most of Scot's inventory was printed by Alexander Heinrici, who moved to New York in the '60s from Austria and went to work printing for Andy Warhol, doing some of his most famous images like the 'Chairman Mao,' before moving on and working with everyone from Damen Hirst to Julian Schnabel," writes Andoe.

"When I met Alexander, I asked him to put some Warhol juju in these prints."

Andoe writes, "I am particularly excited about showing the tulip monoprints, printed by Maurice Sanchez in New York, because they have never been seen."

"Flowers were a holdover from my first ever painting teacher Pat Gordon at Tulsa Junior College in 1976," writes Andoe.

"And even though Pat and I come from different planets, I am conscious of how, intentionally or not, he got my sporting blood up, and I know what he meant to Tulsa and I so want to dedicate these flower pictures to him."

The exhibit, comprised of about 25 works, opened on Wednesday and will be on display for one month. For gallery hours and more information, visit abersonexhibits.com.

Back in Time

SummerStage continues at the Tulsa Performing Arts Center, 110 E. Second St., and included in this weekend's lineup (a full schedule is available at www.tulsapac.com) is an original production by Thomas Connor and Joe Wooley, starring John Cooper and Brad Piccolo of the Red Dirt Rangers, titled Time Changes Everything.

It's widely believed that two of Oklahoma music's most important figures in the 1930s and '40s, Bob Wills and Woody Guthrie, never met.

But, what if they had? the play asks.

The one-act introduces Cooper as Wills to Piccolo as Guthrie as the two ascend the ladders of their careers and after they've peaked.

It juxtaposes the artists' respective beliefs--Wills' that music is purely for entertainment and escape and Guthrie's that music should make a statement and affect the way people live their lives.

Following the play, directed by Vern Stefanic, Cooper and Piccolo will be joined by their bandmates for a short concert.

Time Changes Everything will be performed one night, Thursday, June 25, at 7:30pm in the PAC's Liddy Doenges Theatre. Tickets are $20 and available at the PAC's Web site.

Way Off Broadway

Also on the bill this weekend for SummerStage is Council Oak Men's Chorale's "Not Your Mother's Broadway," June 27 at 8pm and June 28 at 2pm in the Liddy Doenges.

Under the direction of Elizabeth Curtis, the chorus will perform songs from recent Broadway hits such as Jersey Boys, Wicked, Hairspray, Sweeney Todd, Altar Boyz and Rent.

Tickets to the show are $15 and available at www.tulsapac.com.

And the Winners are...

Finally, a quick congratulations to the winners of the first-ever TATE (Tulsa Awards for Theatre Excellence) Awards, announced last Sunday at a banquet.

Clark Youth Theatre won Best Outstanding Youth Play for it's the Sound of Music, directed by Erin Scarberry.

American Theatre Company's A Picasso, starring Craig Walter and Susan Dergoul and directed by Ed Durnal, took third place for Outstanding Play.

John Cruncleton's One Man's as Good as Another, performed at the Nightingale Theater, took second place. And Theatre Tulsa's Up the Down Staircase, a joint effort with Clark Theatre, took first. That play was directed by Frank Gallagher and Julie Tattershall.

The TATE Awards are funded by the George Kaiser Family Foundation in an effort to encourage excellent theatre presentation by local companies. The winners received a cash prize of $2,500 (youth and third place), $5,000 (second place) or $10,000 (first place).

This year's was the first of what will be an annual gift to local theatres. Information about how to apply for next year's awards is at www.tateawards.org.