Marilene Oliver. Courtesy RWA
Printmaking in 2009: The RWA Open Print Exhibition, until September 19 2009
Every day hundreds of people queue for Bristol's Banksy. Every day a steady stream of feet flows in through the doors and out again. There is an undeniable pull. He's got a name, he’s got fame and you can see him for free in a museum.
However, a little way up the street another exhibition, held in the grand rooms of the Royal West of England Academy, has attracted a tiny queue of two. With no famous figure to draw in the crowds this summer's Open Print exhibition appears rather neglected. Yet despite the quiet the exhibition is bursting with vibrant energy. Showcasing artists from around the world, the RWA has brought together a myriad of prints and processes.
Masako Seo, Deep Forest. Courtesy RWA
The exhibition itself begins by asking 'what is printmaking in 2009?' This question, printed in bold black letters, is designed to make you look. Though the answer is not abundantly clear it strikes me that one thing is obvious. Mapping the evolution of an art form, the exhibition shows prints made using ancient traditions and startlingly modern technology. In 2009 printmaking, it seems, is keeping one foot firmly in the past and one foot in the future.
Keisei Kobayashi, one of the eleven invited artists, has used the ancient technique of wood engraving to create a muddled up monochrome world. In At Dawn sees fish fly through the sky while the birds swim in the sea. High-rise buildings nestle in the depths of the ocean and strange women hide out in trees. With its pale grainy greys this shadowy drama breathes a sinister air.
Keisei Kobayashi, At Dawn Song. Courtesy RWA
Cross the room and mysterious monochrome is swapped for rainbow radiance. Splashed in fluorescent pinks and neon blues, cartoon-ish plasma cut prints bring a bolder new perspective.
Venture through another doorway and Marilène Oliver’s sculptural 3D prints take you utterly by surprise. By printing x-ray photographs onto glass organza she has fashioned five ghostlike women. With their arms held up and their feet dangling down they look as though they have been hung from the ceiling. Just like Kobayashi, her artwork hints at a darker story.
Catherine Cartwright, All the houses. Courtesy RWA
As you move through the four rooms of the exhibition you feel yourself dipping in and out of stories. In Catherine Cartwright's All the houses in the Street you sense someone sheltering in the trees. In Judy Willoughby’s The Poet and his Muse Dorothy Wordsworth turns back with a smile as William strides on by. Without words theses prints can evoke an emotion and tell a visual tale.
Printmaking began as a way to mass-produce an image. For this very reason it often gets a bad press - where is a print's unique-ness? This exhibition, however, stands as a firm rebuttal to all those doubting its artistic status. Beautiful details, only possible with print, abound.
