In Print: Making Impressions

About

In Print: Making Impressions – the next instalment in Watts Contemporary Gallery's distinguished In Print annual exhibition series – celebrates the art of printmaking in all its eclectic variety. Featuring nine major techniques and some of the foremost names in British printmaking today, including Chris Orr RA, In Print: Making Impressions will present the best in linocut, lithograph, screenprint, drypoint, and everything in between.

Printmaking is to the visual artist what the written word is to writers: a complex tool for creative expression complete with its own formalities and dialects, styles and nuances, shorthand and slang. Like language, the medium's varying techniques convey the human experience in a range of voices and styles. This season, In Print: Making Impressionsbrings together local, emerging and established artists to show the diversity with which artists today reimagine and enliven the art form. With over 50 works on display, visitors to Watts Gallery – Artists' Village will be able to see and buy a plethora of prints in time for Christmas.

A printmaker uncovering his or her favoured technique can be a years-long process of trial and error. While some experiment at art school, influenced by their tutors, others discover their chosen medium later in their career. This exhibition recounts some of those journeys and, in the artists' own words, explores the practical methods by which a work of art is made. Products of 'an absorbing game with its own rules which just ask to be broken', Anita Klein's bold, bright linocuts combine with Anna Harley's ethereal landscapes, and intricate new work from Chris Orr, to offer a refreshing perspective into the comedy, beauty and majesty of our daily lives.

The artists featured in this exhibition are: Chris Orr RA (lithograph) – whose work is in public collections such as The British Museum, National Portrait Gallery, Tate Britain and the Royal Academy - Faith Chevannes (drypoint), Hester Cox (collagraph), Hilary Daltry (woodcut), Anne Gournay (etching), Anna Harley (screenprint), Anita Klein and Susan Wheeler (linocut), and Howard Phipps and John Bryce (wood engraving). The exhibition includes artworks seen publicly for the first time: Anita Klein, The Thank-you Flowers; Faith Chevannes, Our Fascinating Starlings; John Bryce, Autumn Gale; Anna Harley, Moon Fruit II, Gold Leaf II.

This exhibition is presented in partnership with Gwen Hughes Fine Art. Part of the Watts Contemporary Gallery programme, In Print: Making Impressions provides a unique opportunity for visitors to discover and buy affordable contemporary art that resonates with the Arts and Crafts heritage of Watts Gallery – Artists' Village. Proceeds from the sale of work directly benefit Watts Gallery Trust's learning and outreach programme, which engages over 28,000 participants each year.

In Print: Making Impressions opens on 12 October. All works are for sale and support Watts Gallery Trust's Art for All programme. Prices start at £60.