Home Culture Major exhibition at Edinburgh Printmakers opens tomorrow

Major exhibition at Edinburgh Printmakers opens tomorrow

April 3, 2025 4:38 pm

The new exhibitions which open on 4 April at Edinburgh Printmakers (EP) will include works from some of the best known UK artists.

This is an opportunity for EP to show works by Bridget Riley, David Hockney, Tracey Emin, John Byrne, Victoria Crowe, Eduardo Paolozzi, Lucian Freud, Paula Rego, Barbara Rae, David Shrigley and Rachel Maclean.

This is the third large scale exhibition go printmaking in the last 18 months, and both exhibitions opening this week will show the transformative impact that printmaking has had on British artists and their work.

The first exhibition is Impressions: Selected Works from Jerwood Collection and will be on show from 4 April to 29 June 2025 and includes works by Bridget Riley, David Hockney RA, Tracey Emin DBE, RA, Lucian Freud OM, CH and Paula Rego DBE, RA. This will feature the intricate process of etching and other techniques such as screen printing and linocut.

The second is entitled Story: Selected Works from Edinburgh Printmakers’ Collection and includes works by John Byrne, Barbara Rae, Callum Innes, David Shrigley, Victoria Crowe and Eduardo Paolozzi. There will be around 40 works on show spanning the last 60 years as EP will celebrate its diamond anniversary this year.

EP has had several homes, but is now permanently housed in the former welly boot factory by the canal where there are studios, a shop, café and two galleries. Their vision is “to create an international centre with world-class facilities and exceptional models of support for artists where audiences and communities can connect with our work and we can connect with the world, through:

“A low cost, accessible printmaking studio
Accommodation for visiting artists
Residency and exhibition programmes
Printmaking courses for adults
Print club activities for children and young people
Learning studio for schools and workshop groups”

The shop, café and galleries are open Wednesday to Saturday, 10am-6pm.

Edinburgh Printmakers CEO, Janet Archer, said: “Printmaking holds an important place in the history of art as a medium, revolutionising artistic practices and accessibility. As one of the first methods for mass producing art, it democratised creativity, and the introduction of editioning made art more widely available to audiences and collections and allowed artists to distribute impressions of their work globally. Being so versatile, printmaking enabled artists to push the boundaries of texture, layering, depth, and colour. This capacity for experimentation and innovation allowed creatives to explore endless possibilities.

“Both exhibitions celebrate that vibrancy and potential for pushing the boundaries of the medium. The generous loan of 20 works from Jerwood Collection gives visitors to the gallery a rare opportunity to see these works from internationally renowned artists, many of which have never been shown in Scotland. In response the selection from Edinburgh Printmakers’ Permanent Collection showcases the exceptional work that has been created in our studio over the years by leading Scottish artists. Together these exhibitions mark a significant moment for the growing prominence of printmaking in contemporary art in Scotland and across the UK and cements Edinburgh’s reputation as a destination for lovers of printmaking.”