In Print is a touring exhibition of contemporary prints from the Paragon Press. It comprises 107 works by artists including Jake & Dinos Chapman, Damien Hirst, Gary Hume, Richard Deacon, Peter Doig, Anish Kapoor and Sarah Morris. The artists in the exhibition span several generations and represent a cross-section of various disciplines such as sculpture, painting and video.. Whilst some of the artists had little previous experience of printmaking, for others such as Terry Frost and Patrick Heron, printmaking was an inherent part of their practice. The common denominator within the selection is that all the prints were commissioned and published by the Paragon Press over the last seven years.

Charles Booth-Clibborn founded the Paragon Press in 1986 whilst still a student at Edinburgh University. Initially he concentrated on work by Scottish artists but has since published work by most of the leading British artists working during the 1990s. Printmaking is sometimes seen as a secondary activity to painting, sculpture or photography but the works in this exhibition demonstrate the continuing vitality of this art form. Often the artists who have worked with Paragon Press have discovered something new about their work through printmaking, and it has become an important aspect of their work as a whole: this is the case, for example, with the Chapmans, Peter Doig and Ian McKeever. In choosing the artists he works with, Charles Booth-Clibborn identified those whose work might find some sympathetic correspondence in a printed medium, be it etching, lithography, screenprint, woodcut, linocut, photogravure or any other printing technique.

The techniques employed range from traditional woodcuts and etchings to works using the latest computer technologies. The exhibition also displays the skill of the printmaking studios – Coriander, Hope (Sufferance) Press, Stoneman Graphics and the Senecio Press amongst others who worked closely with the artists and the publisher.

Collection Artist(s)

Glossary

  • Contemporary

    Existing or coming into being at the same period; of today or of the present. The term that designates art being made today.

  • Etching

    An intaglio process whereby a metal plate (normally copper, zinc or steel) is covered with an acid-resistant layer of rosin mixed with wax. With a sharp point, the artist draws through this ground to reveal the plate beneath. The plate is then placed in an acid bath (a water and acid solution) and the acid bites into the metal plate where the drawn lines have exposed it. The waxy ground is cleaned off and the plate is covered in ink and then wiped clean, so that ink is retained only in the etched lines. The plate can then be printed through an etching press. The strength of the etched lines depends on the length of time the plate is left in the acid bath.

  • Linocut

    A relief print, made by cutting into the surface of a piece of lino with a simple gouge, knife or engraver’s tool. The surface of the lino is then inked and printed: this can be done by passing it through a press, though it can also be done manually by rubbing the paper onto the lino with the back of a wooden spoon or similar implement.

  • Lithography

    Lithography means, literally, stone drawing. In addition to fine grain lithographic stones, metal plates can also be used for lithography. The method relies on the fact that grease repels water. An image is drawn in a greasy medium onto the stone or plate, which is then dampened with water. Greasy printing ink rolled onto that surface will adhere to the design but be repelled by the damp area. The inked image is transferred to the paper via a press. For large editions, the grease is chemically fixed to the stone, and gum arabic, which repels any further grease marks but does not repel water, is applied to the rest of the surface. For colour lithography the artist uses a separate stone or plate for each colour required.

  • Medium

    Refers to either the material used to create a work of art, craft or design, i.e. oil, bronze, earthenware, silk; or the technique employed i.e. collage, etching, carving. In painting the medium refers to the binder for the pigment, e.g. oil, egg, acrylic dispersion. The plural form is media.

  • Painting

    Work of art made with paint on a surface. Often the surface, also called a support, is a tightly stretched piece of canvas, paper or a wooden panel. Painting involves a wide range of techniques and materials, along with the artist's intellectual concerns effecting the content of a work.

  • Photogravure

    Photogravure is a process for reproducing a photograph in large editions. It uses gelatin to transfer the image from a black and white negative to a copper printing plate. The gelatin carries the image because it hardens in proportion to its exposure to light. Areas of the gelatin not exposed stay soft and can be dissolved away in water. What remains is a gelatin version of the image, which is then pressed onto a copper plate. The plate is placed in an acid bath. Where the gelatin is thick, the acid eats the metal away slowly, where the gelatin is thin or absent, the acid eats faster. Thus the plate is etched to different depths according to the tones of the original image. When inked for printing, the varying depths hold different amounts of ink.

  • Sculpture

    A three-dimensional work of art. Such works may be carved, modelled, constructed, or cast. Sculptures can also be described as assemblage, in the round, relief, and made in a huge variety of media. Contemporary practice also includes live elements, as in Gilbert & George 'Living Sculpture' as well as broadcast work, radio or sound sculpture.

  • Video

    Images recorded on videotape or on optical disc to be viewed on television screens, or projected onto screens. The medium through which these images are recorded and displayed.

  • Woodcut

    A relief print made by printing from the top surface of a plank of wood into which a design has been cut with gouges or knives. The cuts (which show up white in the print) are usually quite bold because of the texture and grain of the plank, whether hard or soft wood. This term is broadly used to cover any print from a wooden block.