Home Culture New members exhibition opens at Edinburgh Printmakers

New members exhibition opens at Edinburgh Printmakers

December 16, 2023 7:28 am

The new exhibition, Journey, will open at Edinburgh Printmakers on 16 December and run until 17 March 2024 showing the work of 78 artists using a variety of print mediums.

This is the third annual members’ show at Castle Mills in Fountainbridge, and the theme of Journey has been interpreted by artists in many different ways including landscapes, excerpts of travels, and a morning commute.

There are life milestones and personal experiences used as the basis for artworks and the printmaking itself using new processes and materials.

‘Journey’ celebrates the ‘Journey’ of Edinburgh Printmakers’ Workshop itself. Starting as a small collective of imaginative artists in 1967, it has flourished into a group of over 200 members from Edinburgh and across the world. Edinburgh Printmakers began as a small studio on Victoria Street, however soon outgrew the space, and has since inhabited buildings across Edinburgh. In 1975 the organisation moved to Market Street, in 1984 to Union Street, and since 2019, it has been based at Castle Mills in Fountainbridge.

The theme for the third annual members’ show at Castle Mills has been interpreted in many ways: including landscapes, excerpts of travels, and a morning commute. It also charts milestones of life and personal experiences, such as growing up or discovering one’s self-identity. In addition, the exhibition reflects ‘Journeys’ within printmaking itself through exploring new processes or materials. The work on display demonstrates a range of print mediums on paper, animation, and three-dimensional works.

Artists featured include Linda Kosciewicz whose personal ‘Journey’ to a more rural part of Scotland has inspired her to create a new series of works exploring wild nature.

Oliver Brookes is showing a series of new screenprints highlighting the work of charity ‘Bike for Refugees Scotland’ and Alistair Kinroy’s linocut takes the first ‘Journey’ of humankind out of Africa as his inspiration. Linda Furby’s Night Flight captures birds’ migratory ‘Journey’s whilst Alison Grant’s work Gold looks to oceanic ecosystems spotlighting the harmful impact of the fishing industry.

Head of Art at Edinburgh College of Art, Susan Mowatt was a guest selector for ‘Journey’ and said: “It was a pleasure to have been invited as a guest selector for this year’s members show, ‘Journey’. It’s delightful to see the variety of work being produced at Edinburgh Printmakers. There are many positives in enabling members to exhibit work alongside each other, and inclusive in that each artist is guaranteed that at least one of their submitted works will be selected.

The excellent facilities allow a breadth of technical processes to flourish and the exhibition theme ‘Journey’, was open enough to encourage a broad range of interpretations and responses. I was impressed by the range of scale and presentation methods, and enjoyed the more traditional etchings and linocuts of landscapes through to more experimental approaches, including 3D pieces and a wonderful series of works printed on pianola rolls. There is definitely something for all fans of printmaking in this show.”

Edinburgh Printmakers’ CEO Janet Archer said: “This year’s Members’ Exhibition is an opportunity for us to showcase a snapshot of the rich and varied work that takes place in Edinburgh Printmakers studio. Since moving to Castle Mills we have been home to one of Europe’s largest printmaking workshop spaces. Now with a membership of over 200 printmakers, the organisation has come a long way since its beginnings in 1967. The vision and ambition of our members has remained a constant since then and ‘Journey’ captures the latest expression of this from our vibrant printmaking community.”

All of the works in the exhibition have been created by Edinburgh Printmakers studio members, working in the open access print studio at Edinburgh Printmakers. For those interested in learning more about printmaking or trying it out for the first time, there is an opportunity to book onto one of Edinburgh Printmakers’ upcoming courses.