CDU ART GALLERY EXHIBITS LIMITED EDITION PRINTS
What is the difference between ‘printmaker’ and ‘print artist?’ In the age of digital technology, does the difference really matter? In a rare opportunity to appreciate the workmanship and techniques behind a limited edition print, Charles Darwin University Art Gallery and Collections joins the Print Council of Australia’s 50th anniversary celebrations with current exhibition print@CDU Printmaker’s Perspective to provide an opportunity for students, artists, and the general public to get up close and personal with the art of printmaking.
CDU Gallery and Collections curator Joanna Barrkman, and print lecturer Mats Unden, have combined forces to curate an intimate exhibition with limited edition prints chosen from the University’s collection. The exhibition is comprised of definitive works showcasing the breadth and depth of the University’s collection, including works by esteemed artists Brook Andrew, Chips Mackinolty, Therese Ritchie, Rob Brown, Franck Gohier, Chayini Henry, Gloria Petyare, Dion Beasley and Djambu Burra Burra.
With a detailed program guide and public program featuring printmaking workshops for secondary school students and floor talks by printmakers, the curators have developed an educational package which aims to assist printmakers and the general public alike to understand and appreciate the workmanship, time and skill behind quality limited edition prints.
In contrast to the reproducibility of the digital image through programs such as Photoshop and Illustrator, the exhibition demonstrates current and contemporary art practices that preserve the integrity of the printed image as the product of a slow and carefully considered artistic process. The exhibition cleverly demonstrates that there are still practices where it’s not only the final product but the whole process that matters. Being in front of the prints and being guided as to the printing technique involved and seeing the effect of different techniques illustrates that in this medium there is a fine line between “printmaking” and “art”.
The exhibition provides an opportunity to step inside the quiet and reverential space of the gallery, to switch off from the frantic pace of the digital age, and to experience in person the effects of various printing methods, to get a sense of the physicality of the printed work and how it was made.
It is a memorable and immersive learning experience which will provoke your imagination and introduce you to the craftsmanship of the printing process.
The exhibition is open to the public until Friday 22 April 2016 in the CDU Art Gallery, Ground Floor, Building Orange 12, CDU Casuarina campus. The Gallery is open Tuesday to Friday from 10am to 4pm, or by appointment.
For more information visit: www.cdu.edu.au/artgallery
After 20 years practicing as a criminal lawyer, Koulla is pursuing her interest in curating, art history and theory with a three month internship at CDU Art Gallery during which she hopes to transition into a full time student again by commencing her Masters by research focusing on the contemporary curatorial concerns regarding the display and exhibition of subaltern art.
