Connecting Print Studios
1 - 22 October 2021
at The Long Gallery*, Newcastle University

This exhibition is a celebration of the wealth and diversity of spaces for printmaking in the UK and internationally and showcases a varied selection of studios working today. 

The starting point for this exhibition goes back to 1964 when Richard Hamilton was teaching at Newcastle University and began working with magazine images of the actress Marilyn Monroe. The resulting work, ‘My Marilyn’ (screenprint, 1965) is on show in The Hatton Gallery as part of the current exhibition ‘Print Goes Pop’. The story behind the making of this iconic screenprint epitomises the often-overlooked role production facilities play in the creation of artworks.

Pop Artists fell in love with screenprinting for its vivid flat colours and ability to recycle images from mass media. However, in 1965 Newcastle University’s Fine Art department didn’t have the facilities for this exciting new printmaking process. Fortunately, Hamilton was able to borrow screens from the textiles department - but the story of the print’s production doesn’t end there. Hamilton found he didn’t have the technical skills to produce a consistent edition of prints and so enlisted the help of Chris Prater of Kelpra Studios in London.

This exhibition of photographs from a series of print studios in the UK and internationally aims to throw the spotlight onto these places of making and to show what a wealth of spaces there are for artists to make prints. This exhibition encompasses both collaborative studios and open access studios.

Contributing studios: Ballinglen Arts Foundation, Ireland; Double Elephant Print Workshop, UK; East London Printmakers, UK; Edinburgh Printmakers, UK; GG Print Studio, Sweden; Glasgow Print Studio, UK; Highland Print Studio, UK; Hot Bed Press, UK; Jerusalem Print Workshop, Israel; Kala Art Institute, USA; Kip Gresham Editions, UK; La Trampa Gráfica Contemporánea, Mexico; Northern Print, UK; Ratamo Printmaking and Photography Centre, Finland; Sato Mokuhanga, Japan; T.A.C.O. Talleres de Arte Contemporáneo, Mexico; Two Rivers Printmaking Studio, USA;  Spike Print Studio, UK.

*Long Gallery is open Mon-Fri 9am-5pm

This exhibition forms part of a wider project. Other activities include

• Future Print Studios - an online event for leaders of print studios in UK and internationally
• Workshops for young people to widen participation in higher education in art and design
• Mini bursaries for recent graduates to access printmaking
• Virtual visits to six international print studios for the general public

Connecting Young People with Print and with Print Studios across the World is a research & engagement collaboration managed in partnership between Northern Print, Newcastle University and Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums (TWAM). These events coincide with the exhibition Print Goes Pop at the Hatton Gallery. This is the latest in a series of Pop-Art themed exhibitions at the Hatton Gallery, which has strong links with the art movement of the 1950s and 60s.