POLARITIES IN PRINT EXHIBITION

The big event for the Print Circle in 2007 is undoubtedly the exhibition ‘POLARITIES IN PRINT’ Recent Works by the Print Circle at the Mosman Art Gallery, Mosman, New South Wales, from 2 June to 15 July, (opening night 6.30pm, Friday 1 June).

The title of the exhibition takes its inspiration from 2007 being the ‘International Polar Year’ and 28 artists from The Print Circle have ‘united through their shared investigation of the visual possibilities presented by the exhibition theme’ [Katrina Cashman, ‘POLARITIES IN PRINT’ exhibition catalogue]. The exhibition showcases individual works as well as a large collaborative piece by a smaller sub-group within the Circle.

The members of the Print Circle are drawn together by their collective need to continue printing as a primary means of expression. While many of the members also use other mediums for producing art, printmaking has a special place for them as the particular processes involved produce very particular outcomes - textures, colour blending and line. The outcomes are not only unique to printmaking but also unique to the different print processes - intaglio, relief, silk screen and lithography. It is the constant exploration of the possibilities of printmaking that keep us all enthralled;  exhibiting together as a group allows us opportunities to share our excitement, adventures and outcomes with one another as well as the public.

Printmakers often enjoy the tactile quality of their work too - the crafting of an etching plate for example is almost akin to sculpting in metal or silver fabrication and many etchers come to appreciate the feel and appearance of the final plate almost as much as the final artwork.

A theme such as POLARITIES IN PRINT gives each member the challenge of directing their exploratory art toward a subject, finding a unique way of answering the problems set by the theme. Some artists have taken the meaning of polarities as ’opposites’ and have found ways to illustrate this, for example through strongly contrasting tones or contrasting print methods.  Some have chosen to depict the Polar landscape. One artist has chosen to interpret the title by using the standing stones of Europe as her theme where stones are a celestial calculator that predict significant events in the solar calendar such as the summer and winter solstices - solstices which are caused by the tilt in the earth’s polarities.

For anyone interested in knowing more about printmaking and about individual works, there will be public programs running on 3 Sundays during the exhibition on 3, 17 and 24 June. To find out more, you should look at the Events section of our website and click on the Calendar heading.

JANET MILTON RETROSPECTIVE

Congratulations to our Honorary Member, Janet Milton, for her successful exhibition at the Ewart Gallery, Workshop Arts Centre, Willoughby, NSW.  The exhibition closed on Saturday, 19 May; it was a most interesting and beautifully crafted show full of delicately executed limited edition prints. An environmental theme seemed to dominate with many delicately etched and tinted postcard sized pieces illustrating the delicacy of the environment. Also fascinating were the more recently executed books of hand made plates with accompanying texts, such as ‘Shakespeare and Love’. The whole exhibition was a great lesson in ‘less is more’.

EWART ART PRIZE MEMBERS EXHIBITION at the Ewart Gallery.

Next exhibition at the Ewart Gallery in Willoughby is the Annual Members’ Exhibition which opens on Friday night, 25 May and continues until 9 June. An exhibition covering all fine art disciplines, this show includes a number of excellent examples of fine art prints including pieces by our own Jan Moore and Christina Cordero. Anyone wishing to see the exhibition can attend the opening night (entry fee $10) on 25 May 6.00pm - 8.00pm or visit from Monday to Friday 9.30am - 4.30pm, Saturday 10.00am - 3.00pm.

FUTURE EXHIBITIONS

At present we have no firm commitments for the rest of the year of for next year, though many of our members are also members of The Sydney Printmakers and they will have work in ‘Urban Animals’ at ‘Impressions’ Works on Paper gallery in Canberra from 4/10/07 to 28/10/07 and Marianne Newman Gallery 30/11/07 to 22/12/07.  But we certainly have our scouts out and about looking for suitable venues and a number of us are already put our mind to a new theme, already decided, that we hope to present to a commercial or regional gallery.