Imprint Exhibition
Rik Ward: Hoxton meets the City
Our second exhibition of 2021 presents a lively conversation of original print from a selection of artists who approach print techniques uniquely through their work. My interest is in exploring the novel qualities of art printworks.
Many of my clients start their collections with prints. Prints are an art genre in themselves. It is essential to understand what you are buying. Without the proper knowledge, the impression you buy may not be worth the paper it is printed on.
Although larger print runs are acceptable in some areas, I will never represent a print edition run of more than 100. I personally like to support the limited-edition concept. An artist has to decide, before reproducing an image, how many editions they will run. It is a tricky decision, as they will not know at that stage whether an image will be successful or not.
There are various types of printing techniques; screen, etching, woodcut, mono, block, lino, giclee, aquatint and litho, to name a few. Depending on the process and costs involved, an artist might produce the complete edition in one go or in a staged approach. However, once the edition run has been reached, creating more of the same edition is unethical and doing so will damage the artist's reputation.
In some cases, the artist might not produce the entire edition run, so although there could be the potential to create a print run, say 50, the artist might only have made 20 or less.
There are three main types of print. There are reproductions; this is a direct copy of an already existing artwork. This print will differ from the original due to the different production process.
There are embellished prints; these are works whose starting point is a reproduction of an original artwork. They have then been enhanced by the addition of original elements, like screen printing or hand painting.
Then there are original edition prints. These are works intended to be prints from the outset and will be seen as original artwork. Techniques include monoprint, lino and woodcut. Print editions in this category tend to be low, often around 35 or fewer.
For this exhibition, I have invited a few of my artists to explore the various print techniques hoping they will give an insight into the complexities of these mediums.
Carolyn Bew: Dancing in the Mask of the Mind
Carolyn Bew—New artist—Etching and aquatint prints
Carolyn uses traditional etching and aquatint processes that go back to the 15th Century. It is a medium ideally suited to the portrayal of the allegorical and the complexities of the human condition.
Carolyn investigates the sense of self through her subjects and the evolving attitudes and changing philosophical interpretations that make up a complex sense of who we are. Our problematic attitudes to the animal world are so often seen as something apart.
I explored various ideals with Carolyn during a studio visit. The three exhibited pieces are created from a new body of work entitled Privation and Possession, an ongoing series.
Rik Ward: Fleeting Memories - Tower Bridge
Rik Ward—Original Photo-Composites
Rik's earliest photo-fusions were an exciting development. Still, it took a further two years of experimentation to reach his current standards. He is passionate about developing his work, in terms of both subject and technique, as he continues his photographic explorations at home and abroad.
Despite a flurry of requests, Rik is not ready to reveal his exact technique. He explains that his experimental approach to painting has led him to explore and optimise software in ways not typical in conventional photography. He believes his technique is a discovery that anyone could make
Ann Petruckevitch: Wild Garden
Ann Petruckevitch—New Artist—Fine art, limited edition, archival photographic, giclée prints.
Many of Ann's photographic projects originate from a desire to invite the viewer to witness some of the subtle unseen details of their environment. She has various photographic-based interests and likes to explore image interpretation using multiple techniques, including camera-less, analogue, and digital media.
I was interested in including an artist constructing original digital images and presenting limited edition prints.
Felicity Warbrick: Night Time Agave
Felicity Warbrick—Monotype drawings, ink on Japanese paper.
Felicity's work is inspired by the surroundings that fed her imagination as a child growing up in the countryside on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales. She explores ideas, feelings and memories of these buildings/landscapes and objects in sculpture (made of soap and bronze), drawing, painting and drypoint.
For Imprint, Felicity has focused on her monotype drawings which is a slow process of creating images in reverse. She lays down a thin layer of printing ink onto glass and then her paper on top before carefully drawing onto the back of it, producing an ink copy onto that paper but in reverse.
It's a process that can be tricky if too much ink is on the plate or it's too wet. The element of surprise and the almost etching effect it can produce keeps the method so interesting.
Rachel Williams: Herding,Grazing
Rachel Williams—Lino, materials, block, mono and screen printing.
Rachel's first love is printmaking; the need to make the transferred marks permeate her work. The theme of similarity and difference provides much of the background to her practice. Perceptions of sameness, repetition, subtleties of difference perceived or actual pepper her output.
Much of her work is inspired by landscapes, both rural and urban. She spends a lot of time exploring the way we see landscape and environment and the mark that man makes on the land through agriculture, road building and urban development.
Ann Petruckevitch: Nimue