Royal Society of Printmakers exhibition at Bankside Gallery 22nd May

I went to this exhibition expecting to be impressed by the work of the best printmakers this country has to offer but came away rather underwhelmed. I will give a more detailed log of my favourite works later (yes there were some I liked!) but this entry is a more general reflection. The Bankside Gallery is ideal for this sort of specialised exhibition being a 'professional' space in an area of heavy footflow and big enough to exhibit small to medium size graphic works so the exhibition experience was always going to be satisfying.



There was a steady flow of the general public through the exhibition in the two hours I was there and the Society had provided a demonstration of etching by one of the members which attracted a good deal of attention. The fact that this was done at all is interesting because it shows how little the idea of Print has permeated the public consciousness and how useful and entertaining such eduction is.



For most people it's all Art and how it's made is of secondary interest which raises the question, "What was this exhibition about?", was it about ideas, or decoration, or was it about technical ability?



I felt the exhibition was too much about technical ability and how proficient the members were at their particular discipline rather than how Print can express ideas in a unique way that other mediums cannot.



On my own progress I have spent the time since my last entry developing a series of prints using stencils, both positive and negative, from an initial life drawing session using a pregnant model. These drawings morphed into a boxer! It was a good solid shape for making stencils and anyway the point of the exercise was to explore the possibilities of layering and offsetting stencils with colours and of introducing textures to the inked plate.



Some of the prints were successful and some were more experimental but still useful. I thought the textural effects achieved by back drawing were particularly useful.



On a separate note I wanted to make a printing press using angle iron and a car jack which I can use for small scale relief prints and having designed such a press I constructed it and experimented with blocks of lino about 4" square using plant leaves as stencils. This actually produced some very clear and well defined prints but I am still experimenting with registration and getting a completely consistent and flat spread of ink.



Using larger bits of lino didn't work because the pressure didn't extend to the outer edges giving an inconsistent layer of ink but I can build up larger images in a patchwork of smaller prints if I design my images cleverly.



I am really looking forward to the last part of this module which will involve using all the techniques employed so far in producing four finished pieces. I would like to do some horses and the inside of an old barn and some landscapes similar to ones I saw at the Printmakers exhibition.