Printmaking is, in many ways, a ‘Cinderella’ art-form: shrouded in confusing terms and frequently seen as second best to ‘one-off’ works of art such as painting and drawing. The art of printmaking, however, offers a wealth of different forms of expression, and the resulting original artworks can be as unique as any other form of art.
The Penwith peninsula’s distinguished artistic history has included many artists producing prints and Penlee House Gallery & Museum, Penzance, houses a substantial collection of prints, ranging from 18th century topographical lithographs to etchings by Newlyn School artists. In order to bring this collection to the fore, Penlee House has invited some of today’s eminent printmakers to select works from this collection and to respond to them in their own way.
The resulting exhibition includes work by current members of Penwith Printmakers, Gabrielle Hawkes, June Hicks, John Howard, Carol Lander, Denny Long, Liz Luckwell, Janet Lyle, Adrienne Peverall, Jesse Leroy Smith, Lee Stevenson and Lyn Winters, alongside their selection of works by artists including Elizabeth Forbes, Edward Bouverie Hoyton and William Penaluna, as well as Cryséde textiles.
As well as providing a feast for the eyes, the exhibition will help to de-mystify the art of printmaking, as it includes information about different types of print. If you don’t know your etching from your engraving, or your lino-print from your lithograph, this exhibition will enlighten you.
And if all this leaves you feeling inspired, why not give it a go yourself? Jesse Leroy Smith will be holding a series of workshops during the exhibition, including a two-day Saturday printmaking workshop for adults on 10th and 17th February and two half-day workshops for children during half-term, on Wednesday 21stFebruary: booking essential – please phone 01736 363625 for further details.
The exhibition runs from 13 January to 10 March 2007 and Penlee House is open Monday to Saturday from 10.30 to 4.30 (last admission 4.00). Alongside ‘Printmaking in Penwith’, a selection of Newlyn School and Lamorna Group paintings will also be on view, as well as the museum displays covering the area’s archaeology and social history.
