Visual art exhibitions and events with a platform for critical writing
Ferens Art Gallery, Hull
29 September – 25 November
Reviewed by: David Briers
'In-Print' offers a conspectus of recent printmaking in Britain. Unusually for an exhibition of this kind, it includes up to six works by each selected artist. They vary in scale, from the giant woodcuts of Emma Stibbon to Andi McGarry's tiny Campsite – a "hand-sized book that can be read in about twenty seconds". They range in format from hand-pulled etchings to desktop publishing, taking in ceramic tiles and sculptural installations. The works of senior artists like Hockney and Hamilton stand alongside recent graduates, with a smart accompanying catalogue incorporating five substantial essays about current issues in printmaking.
The exhibition does not make a fetish of edition numbers, embracing such things as Artpoint's mischievous leaflets for a spoof charity for suffering artists, described like a dog rescue centre. Nevertheless, the exclusive technical freemasonry which has characterised 'fine art' prints is maintained in the affected way that the new, 'hands-off' mediums are described on exhibition labels: 'Iris Giclee Print' sounds more impressive than 'inkjet copy'. Those exhibits that make greatest play of employing new technologies are those with the least interesting content.
Many of the hybrid works, including kites and books, unavoidably seem constrained in frames and showcases, as if trying to escape from the gallery. A tabletop selection of artists' bookworks, however, allows for some hands-on rifling.
The exhibition's subtitle – evolution in contemporary printmaking – infers that printmaking is still moving forward. The exhibition itself though suggests that the pluralist complexion of printmaking has not in fact changed very much during the rise of a new generation of artists.
Also at the Ferens is 'Inked!', a large exhibition comprising prints from the gallery's own diverse collection. It furnishes a remarkable contextual resource for 'In-Print', showing printmaking's long history as a reproductive, polemical, documentary and expressive activity.
Writer detail:
DAVID BRIERS
is a freelance writer based in Yorkshire.
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