Monday, September 5, 2011

Free Radicals

Jess Baines looks back at London's printmaking workshops of the 1960s and 70s, DIY sites of political and community activism that rejected the role of the artist to participate in a network of campaign groups, radical publishers and distributors.

The Poster Workshop was set up in London in the summer of 1968 and closed in 1971. It was inspired by the Atelier Populaire, set up in the École des Beaux Arts, Paris, in May 1968.
Between the late 1960s and 1970s numerous alternative printshops were set up across the UK, with the founding objective of producing, providing or facilitating the cheap and safe printing of radical materials. They were started by libertarians, aligned and non-aligned Marxists, anarchists and feminists, and as such were constitutive of the fractured and fractious politics of the post-1968 left. Emerging mostly at the tail end of, or just after, the 1960s underground culture, they arose in a period that saw not just the extension of political concerns to cultural ones but also the rise of community activism and feminism. Despite their differences in position, those involved in the various printshops shared common left/libertarian ground: they were, in general, anti-capitalism and anti-'the state', anti-imperialism, anti-hierarchy, anti-racist and pro-feminist. The London-based Poster Workshop (1968-1971), which recently uploaded its archive to the web, provides a snapshot of some radical concerns of the time: the political situations in Vietnam, Cuba, Zimbabwe, Angola, Iran and Ireland; apartheid; housing; racism and rights for workers. Their rhetoric was one of resistance, solidarity, fight, strike, occupation, revolution and freedom. Later, starting in the mid-1970s, the posters of screen-printing workshops such as See Red Women's Workshop and the Poster Collective, while similarly based on principles of solidarity and revolt, became, in the main, less direct calls to action and more attempts to provide alternative and critical representations of political concerns.

The 'radical printshop' itself was not a new phenomenon in Britain; printers of contentious material have been in existence in the UK - often at the risk of imprisonment - since at least the seventeenth century. However the workshops referred to here came out of a new historical constellation of technological possibility and political and cultural imperatives.1 Their aim was not just to produce politically radical materials but also to enact those politics through their organisational and production practices. Liberation and equality would not just occur at some future event - i.e. the revolution - but through ongoing practice in everyday life. The printshops were a nodal point in a network of activist groups, radical publishers and alternative distributors, many of whom put their politics into the way they worked and organised. A significant numbers of those involved in the printshops had been to art school and were critical of the dominant cultures of both art and mass media - a critique reflected by the Poster Collective's statement that 'In most respects we have rejected the traditional cultural role of the artist. The artist is a kind of emblem of freedom, someone who is negatively free to do anything in the name of art'.2 In a period where radical social change seemed imminent and the critique of everything essential, the move by artists to collective practice and machine printing can, in our historical imagination, be seen to resonate with the productivist turn by artists in early twentieth century Russia/USSR.

Participation and access were key concerns in the early days and articulated through an ethos of self-help and skill-sharing. An entry for a 'self-help printer', as they were initially known, in the 1974 edition of the handbook Alternative London reads, 'Crest Press […] have meetings anyone can attend on Fridays at 3.30 to decide what to allocate their printing time to the following week - they only print what they like and give preference to political posters and pamphlets. They will teach you how to print and expect you to help. You pay cost price.'3 In the same year Jonathan Zeitlyn, who was involved in Inter-Action Trust, a community arts project in North London, began producing the booklet Print: How You can Do It, a guide to DIY printing in which he describes how by taking charge of the means of print production, we 'the people' could begin to articulate a new culture. Zeitlyn continued producing these guides until the early 1990s, when he declared that with the development of desktop publishing the DIY idea of self-publishing had become commercialised: the activity was no longer attached to collective emancipation but to individualised self-sufficiency.

For feminists, learning the technology of print, a traditionally male domain, was as empowering as the material they produced. Onlywomen Press, a group of radical lesbian feminist writers who set up their publishing house in 1974, initially operated their own printing presses, having trained in printing at Camberwell College of Art. This was not only pragmatic but felt by them to be a 'physical, material' manifestation of their feminism, along with their commitment to training women in the production process. Other women-only printshops - e.g. Women In Print, See Red Women's Workshop and Lenthall Road - shared a similar view, although in reality the capacity for training was often limited by economics. In 1986, the Greenwich Mural Workshop produced an exhibition and catalogue called Printing Is Easy…? Community Printshops 1970-1986', with work and statements from 32 different printshops. The first part of the title is indicative; the organisers had noticed that the self-help ethos had emerged as much more problematic than initially conceived and that by the mid-1980s many printshops had become essentially service points for radical or community organisations as opposed to spaces of participatory empowerment.

By the mid-1990s most of the printshops had either folded, been incorporated into other organisations or acquired conventional (that is, hierarchical) management structures.4 Currently only two collectives survive, Calverts and Aldgate Press, both London-based offset litho printing businesses. Speculative explanations for the disappearance of the printshops would no doubt point to a number of factors, the most obvious perhaps being that print is no longer the essential media form for radical communications, and that emerging digital technologies seemed to offer a democratisation of production without the need for collectivism - although of course they are facilitating new kinds of collaborative activity. There is little written about these organisations; the only significant published source at present is the previously mentioned Printing is Easy…?. Alongside academic research project on the subject I have set up a wiki to initiate a collective history of the printshops at http://www.radicalprintshops.org. Anyone who was involved in the radical printshops is welcome to contribute.

Footnotes
1.The popularisation of screen-printing and the development of offset-litho meant that printing technology became much more accessible both in terms of cost and skill.↑

2.From Printing is Easy… ?, ed. Carol Kenna, Lynne Medcalf and Rick Walker, London: Greenwich Mural Workshop, 1986, p.18.↑

3.Nicholas Saunders, Alternative London, 1974, p.91.↑

4.For example, Paddington Printshop, which started in the 1970s has evolved into londonprintstudio, still working with a 'community' but of students and artists producing their own work. http://www.londonprintstudio.com↑

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

The art books of Henri Matisse,


The Library and Bank of America Merrill Lynch present this exciting exhibition of the art books of Henri Matisse, marking the first public display of these works in Europe. The exhibition features four of Matisse’s most artistically significant books, including the famous Jazz, on loan from the Bank of America Merrill Lynch Collection.

Best known for his boldly coloured paintings, Matisse created a body of work that also included drawings, prints, cut-outs and sculpture, as well as costume and stage set designs. He did not begin his work with illustrated books until his late sixties, but he considered them amongst the works of which he was most proud. Matisse regarded the prints he created for these books as an extension of his drawing. The same flowing lines that characterised his oils and pencil studies carried over to the printmaking medium and related illustrations

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Old Master Prints go on Show at IMMA



An exhibition of Old Master prints by many of the most famous artists ever to work with print-making opens to the public at the Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA) on Wednesday 23 March 2011. Works by Albrecht Dürer, Francisco de Goya, William Hogarth and Rembrandt van Rijn are all featured in Old Master Prints: The Madden Arnholz Collection, which is drawn from the Madden Arnholz Collection. It was donated to the Royal Hospital Kilmainham (RHK) in 1989 by Claire Madden, prior to the opening of the Museum in 1991. The exhibition is curated by Janet and John Banville.

The works included in the exhibition are by German, Flemish, Dutch and British artists, spanning the period between the beginning of the 16th century and the early 20th century. German printmakers of the Dürer period are well represented, but the most comprehensive part of the show is the remarkable group of prints by, and after, William Hogarth. While not complete, this is a valuable group, with several proofs of Hogarth’s single prints and sequences of ‘modern moral subjects’ in various states.

William Hogarth (1697-1764) was one of England’s most innovative and versatile artists. His influence was so great that the phrase “The Age of Hogarth” is now frequently used to describe the first half of the 18th century. Hogarth was renowned in particular for his use of satire to comment on the morals of his day. Many of the subjects he addressed, such as crime, political corruption, sexuality, patriotism and charity, gave his work a distinctively modern feel. His print series had a sequential character which could be said to anticipate the 20th century graphic and comic strip art and even film.

Also highlighted in the exhibition is the work of Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528). Born in Nuremberg, Germany, he was regarded as one of the greatest artists of the Northern Renaissance. He was also a painter, mathematician and theorist. The renowned humanist scholar Erasmus of Rotterdam paid his contemporary Dürer the highest compliment, saying that he achieved with his black and white prints what most artists could only express in colour. This is evident in the exhibition in Dürer’s engraving The Great Horse (1505), where the detail of shadow with line and cross-hatching are remarkable.

Another figure whose prints are just as well known as his paintings is Dutch artist Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669), considered one of the greatest painters and printmakers in European history. His etching The Great Jewish Bride (1635), featured in the show, glistens with light.

The Old Master prints were left to Claire Madden in 1982, after the death of her daughter Étain Madden-Arnholz at the age of forty-three. Étain had been married to Dr. Friedrich ‘Fritz’ Arnholz, to whom the Collection belonged, and who died in 1968. He was born in Berlin in 1897, into a wealthy merchant family and studied medicine. Graduating in 1924, he worked as a doctor in his native city until 1939 when, being Jewish, he was forced to flee Germany for Britain – his brother was murdered by the Nazis in Auschwitz. Moving to London, he served in the Royal Army Medical Corps during the Second World War and later set up a private practice in Fulham where he was to work for the rest of his life.

In London in the early 1960s, Arnholz met his future wife, Étain, who was some 30 years younger. She had been brought up in England but was born in Ireland to politically active parents, so she never lost her strong sense of herself as an Irish patriot. Étain was a student of Philosophy, and Fritz, who had studied under Artur Schnabel, was a pianist of professional standard. Writing on the exhibition, John Banville says that Arnholz even bought a Bechstein grand piano with his reparation money from the post-war German government. The piano had to be hoisted through the first-floor window of his surgery to the amazement of his neighbours.

Banville goes on to say that Fritz was a lifelong collector of books, “how I envied his first editions of Rilke and Thomas Mann! – But his first love was for prints, especially those of Hogarth and Dürer. However he was no slave to reputation and some of the finest things among his collection are the works by unknown hands, and it is from these that we have mainly made our choices for the present exhibition.” The avid collector, Arnholz built up a significant collection both in Britain and through regular visits to the continent.

EVENT: Impact Print Conference Bristol 2009

Impact is a bi-annual print conference which takes place in a different location every two years. It returned to its home town of Bristol for the 2009 event.
In 2011 Impact will take place in Melbourne Australia more info on the Impact website.


Laser cutting demo at Impact Print Conference Bristol








Much of the 2009 Impact Print conference was based at the UWE Bristol where the print research centre is. Many interesting demonstrations took place including the fascinating possibilities of laser cutting/etching. All facilities are available to hire.

Exhibition at the Impact Conference Bristol









Book Project







Book Project
The book project was a cross course project initiated by Cora Cummins tutor in visual arts practice and Ian Mitton tutor in photography. Both groups of 2nd years worked on the idea of the artist book, many students formed small groups to collaborate on joint project.

Print Day for Open Day




Print Day was a day long printing event involving students from all years of BA in Visual Arts Practice. Large scale prints were created and displayed in the Atrium space of IADT for the Open Day 2009.

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

OPPORTUNITIES: Call for Entries :: Beyond Printmaking III

Call for Entries :: Beyond Printmaking III
2012 National Juried Exhibition
February 3 – March 4, 2012
Melanie Yazzie, Juror

Beyond Printmaking is an art competition and exhibition organized by the Landmark Arts and the printmaking area in the Texas Tech University School of Art.

As technology is changing ever more rapidly, many contemporary artists who originally started with printmaking as their primary medium are using interdisciplinary approaches to embrace the needs of time. Contemporary artists find ways to create visually captivating and socially or politically engaging discourses through interdisciplinary approaches.

As much as printmaking has been loved for its traditional resonance, its versatility applied in multimedia does not see limitations. In this third exhibition, we are looking for artists who have a vision of printmaking beyond the traditional practices, who push the technological and conceptual limits of what is considered printmaking.

juror ∙ melanie yazzie
Melanie Yazzie has been teaching at the University of Colorado at Boulder since 2006. She previously held positions at the University of Arizona, and Boise State University. Professor Yazzie received her MFA from the University of Colorado at Boulder and a BA from Arizona State University. Yazzie's work is held in many prestigious collections, including: Milwaukee Art Museum, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Print Collection, Madison, WI, and the Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, Print Collection, Providence. She has been reviewed in Focus Magazine, Santa Fe, the Los Angeles Times, New Zealand Herald, and been mentioned in Printmaking in the Sun by Dan Welden and Pauline Muir, Native American Art in the Twentieth Century by W. Jackson Rushing III, and The Lure of the Local: Sense of Place in a Multi Centered Society by Lucy Lippard.

calendar
November 4, 2011 – Online entries must be fully submitted at ttuart.slideroom.com

December 16, 2011 – Accepted artists contacted by e-mail; posted online at www.landmarkarts.org

January 9-13, 2012 – Artworks received and held for installation.

February 3, 2012 – Exhibition Opens with Reception

March 4, 2012 – Exhibition Closes Artworks returned

eligibility
Open to professional artists living in the U.S. who are 18 and older. All media expanding the notion of printmaking, including time-based and installation, will be considered. An artist’s statement illuminating the artist’s conception of printmaking must be included with the entry. Work must be original and completed within the last 3 years.

online submission
Submit all entries online at ttuart.slideroom.com. Entries must be fully submitted by November 4, 2011.

entry fee
Entry fee is on a sliding scale as shown below and includes the SlideRoom upload fee. For 3-D entries, two slides per entry may be uploaded; otherwise, one slide per entry. Be sure to click on the appropriate SlideRoom page.

$30 for up to three (3) entries
$40 for four (4) entries
$50 for five (5) entries

awards
$2,500 in cash prizes to be awarded by the Juror at her discretion.

artwork size limitations
2D work: Maximum size 60” any direction. 3D work: Maximum size 48” any direction. Maximum weight 100 lbs

accepted entries
Accepted entries must be received between January 9-13, 2012.

Artwork should be shipped to:

Beyond Printmaking
Texas Tech School of Art
18th Street at Flint Ave
Lubbock, TX 79409

for more information >>>
phone: 806.742.1947; e-mail: landmarkarts@ttu.edu

shipping & insurance of accepted entries to Texas Tech is the responsibility of the Artist. Works can be shipped or hand-delivered between January 9 -13, 2012. Texas Tech Landmark Arts will not cover any insurance claims of work that arrives damaged. Appropriate shipping materials and proper packaging will avoid damage to work. Each accepted 2D work must be sent in a well-packaged single reusable carton or crate, each 3D work should be in a double box or crated. (No styrofoam peanuts please.) All 2D works must be ready for hanging. While framing is not required, framed pieces must have a secure hanging wire, d-rings or a cleat. Saw-tooths and like hanging devices will not be accepted. Plexiglas must be used instead of glass for framing. 3D work must be of sound design and be "ready-to-install." If accepted, provide installation instructions and photo of installed piece. Time-based work must be "ready-for-display." If accepted, provide installation instructions and technical requirements. Works will be insured for the duration of the exhibition. Accepted artists will receive a copy of the exhibition brochure. All works must remain on display throughout the exhibition February 3 – March 4, 2012.

return shipping & insurance will be covered by Texas Tech Landmark Arts. All artworks will be returned via FedEx by March 9, 2012 to their respective owners at the addresses provided on the entry forms. Any artist wishing to ship by another carrier must provide return shipment. Any work differing significantly from the submitted images will not be accepted.

artwork sales will be between the artist and the buyer. Landmark Arts will provide prospective buyers with the artist contact information listed on the entry.

Exhibitions and visiting speakers programs at the School of Art are supported by generous grants from the Helen Jones Foundation and The CH Foundation, both of Lubbock. Additional support comes from Cultural Activities Fees administered through the College of Visual & Performing Arts.