This exhibition comprises 84 prints by 21 artists selected from the rich reserves of graphic art in the British Council Collection.
Featuring prints from the decade 1961-1972, the exhibition concentrates on what was something of a boom period in British printmaking. This was in large part due to the rise in the status of screen printing as a fine art medium. With its facility for printing large areas of solid colour, combined with the recent advances made in the development of photo-printmaking techniques, screen printing lent itself to a wide range of imagery and was eagerly taken up by both established and emerging artists of the time. The exhibition title pays homage to Eduardo Paolozzi's suite of 12 screen prints, As is When, published in 1965, which has been referred to as ' the first masterpiece of the medium.'
In addition to screen prints, the exhibition includes etchings and lithographs and features a number of innovative prints which explored the use of new materials. Included are three of the first editioned screen prints on perspex from the Fragments series of 1965 by Bridget Riley, three screen prints on Acetate from Joe Tilson's Clip-O-Matic series of 1967-69, and three of Richard Hamilton's vacuum formed Guggenheim relief multiples from 1970.
Artists featured in the exhibition:
Clive Barker, Peter Blake, Derek Boshier, Patrick Caulfield, Bernard Cohen, Harold Cohen, Robyn Denny, Richard Hamilton, David Hockney, Howard Hodgkin, Gordon House, John Hoyland, Allen Jones, R.B. Kitaj, Eduardo Paolozzi, Peter Phillips, Bridget Riley, Peter Sedgley, Colin Self, Richard Smith, Joe Tilson.
Exhibition tour dates:
Nationa Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Taichung, Taiwan 19 August - 12 November 2006
Manggha Centre, Krakow, Poland 31 Jan 2005 - 5 March 2006
Kaunas Modern Art Gallery, Kaunas, Lithuania 8 Dec 2005 - 15 January 2006
Siauliu Dailes Galerija, Siauliai, Lithuania 3 November - December 2005
Culturgest, Oporto, Portugal 23 July - 1 October 2005
National Graphic Institute, Rome, Italy 14 Dec - 7 Feb 2005
Biblioteca Judeteana Octavian Goga, Cluj, Romania 15 - 30 November 2004
Faculty of Fine Arts, Timisoara, Romania 1 - 15 November 2004
Palace of Culture, Iasi, Romania 6 - 24 October 2004
National Art Museum, Bucharest, Romania 16 - 30 September 2004
Art Museum, Constanta, Romania 6 - 17 August 2004
Central Exhibition Hall, Almaty, Kazakhstan 26 May - 12 June 2004
Yerevan National Gallery, Armenia 18 March - 7 April 2004
Salt Storage, Tallinn, Estonia 2 - 30 October 2003
Lubeck, Germany 13 July - 24 August 2003
As Is When is accompanied by a book display featuring a monograph on each artist, giving audiences a chance to see the wider context of their work beyond the pieces exhibited.
Also travelling with the exhibition is a film programme: four classic episodes from British TV series of the 1960s, which provides a great cultural background for the show.
As is When offers an excellent opportunity for audiences to look at the parallel histories of the UK and their own country, and dip in to the heady nostalgia of 1960s British Culture. Each leg of the tour is supported by a tailor made programme of events, including visits by UK artists and historians. Highlights include a Christmas card competition in Estonia and a summer school for teachers in Romania, led by a UK education specialist. The success of events like these is underpinned by an education pack providing ideas and resources for teachers to build on.
Visual Arts has published a fully illustrated catalogue to accompany the exhibition which is available from Cornerhouse Publications. Including colour reproductions of all the prints in the exhibition, an essay by the exhibition curator Richard Riley, biographical details of the artists and a chronology of the period.
For further information please contact Deborah Prosser
Open the original version of this page.
Usablenet Assistive is a UsableNet product. Usablenet Assistive Main Page.