Most of us don’t think of ourselves as much of a dab hand with a brush and canvas—I certainly wouldn’t know where to start with an easel and some oil paints. Presented with a piece of paper, however, and I find myself more at ease. From printing with potatoes as children to poster-making, the art of printmaking is as playful as it is universal. Often considered the most democratic of art forms, this is a medium opens up the communicative power of image and text. The Woolwich Contemporary Print Fair, now in its third year, celebrates the many processes of printmaking, bringing together over 500 artworks from practitioners around the world this November.
The art of printmaking, at times seen as a more traditional craft, is shown here at its most diverse and experimental. The fair sets out to interrogate what we think of as prints, from Anna Arenstein’s silk- screen printed costumes to Odilia Suanzes’s large-scale works on paper. This is an art form that remains as active and as it has ever been. All works are by contemporary artists, with over 200 selected from an international open call—embracing the democratic roots of printmaking. Artists from Turkey and Iran, Canada and the USA are included, while experimentation with a range of techniques and processes is encouraged.
Workshops and demonstrations offer instruction to newcomers, meaning that you can finally take those early memories of potato printing to the next level. Filled with freewheeling colour, shape and line, there is something for everyone at this fair.
Woolwich Contemporary Print Fair
22 to 25 November 2018 at the former Artillery Museum in the Royal Arsenal, London
