Stopping Time: Material Prints 3000BCE to Now

February 15, 2020 by Anthea Boesenberg Leave a Comment

Material Prints 3000 BCE to Now at Newcastle Art Gallery.

29 February – 10 May 2020

14 days from now

10am to 5pm Tuesday to Sunday, 7 days during school holidays

STOPPING TIME: Material Prints 3000 BCE to Now expands on the definition of printmaking by bringing works of art together in thematic clusters, regardless of their period or place of production, collapsing the temporal distances between them and emphasising the dual power of material prints to embed or carry time and to stop time as we engage with them.

The exhibition extends well beyond the usual point of origin for printmaking in the fifteenth century when Johannes Gutenberg (1400-1468) invented the movable type printing press, to the perceived decline of printed imagery with the development of digital photography at the end of the twentieth century.

From ancient Mesopotamian images pressed in clay from cylinder seals to contemporary 3-D printing this exhibition positions traditional prints as part of a much larger constellation of printmaking. The timeless encounter with material prints can be described as “aesthetic time” (Keith Moxey Visual Time: The Image in History) but when artists attempt the synthetic transfer of ideas into matter and image it is more a process of collective cultural imagining and technological revelation rather than aestheticism.

Featuring key works of art from the Newcastle Art Gallery collection, STOPPING TIME also includes works of art from the Griffith University Art Museum along with several private collections and recent works of art by contemporary artists including Ali Bezer, Blair Coffey, Ryan Presley and Pamela See.

John COBURN
The 6th Day: God created Man 1977
screenprint on paper, edition 34/50
52.0 x 72.0cm
Purchased with assistance from the Visual Arts Board, Australia Council 1978
Newcastle Art Gallery collection
Courtesy the artist’s estate

Vale Bernhardine Mueller by Karen Ball and Denise Scholz Wulfing

February 13, 2020 by Anthea Boesenberg 6 Comments

Vale Bernhardine Mueller

To live is so startling it leaves little time for anything else.

Emily Dickinson (1830-1886)

Bernhardine Mueller, who passed away in December 2019, is fondly remembered by the printmaking community as an inspirational artist, generous teacher, colleague and dear friend. She had the ability to inspire and nurture creativity in others while pursuing her own artistic journey. Each of her students received individual attention and art colleagues knew she was always available as a friendly, supportive listener. Bernhardine was a friend to so many people in numerous printmaking areas.

Bernhardine established the printmaking studio at Ku Ring Gai Art Centre and Lane Cove Centre House and taught at both for many years. As one of her students at KAC in 1990, I(Karen)was immediately enveloped in the warm, friendly atmosphere she created. Many of those students became lifelong friends of Bernhardine. She was very involved in Lane Cove Art Society winning many awards from there and other competitions for her prints, miniatures and artist books.

Bernhardine also held numerous workshops throughout NSW and Queensland, in particular Gunnedah and Mitchell School of Arts, Bathurst. These workshops introduced students to printmaking and became the foundation for burgeoning art careers. For many years Bernhardine enjoyed a creative partnership with teachers and secondary school students in the art studios at Masada College, one of whom was chosen for HSC Art Express exhibition.

As a long term member of Sydney Printmakers, Bernhardine instigated and participated in many exhibitions. She always welcomed and supported new members. Similarly, Bernhardine was a long time, loved member of The Australian Society of Miniature Art. Her dedication to printmaking endured even as she became increasingly unwell. Bernhardine curated an exhibition at Orange Regional Gallery in 2018 with a group of fellow printmaker colleagues connected by their use of Richard Swinburne’s etching presses. She continued to show her work in Sydney Printmakers and other group shows into 2019.

Bernhardine was a printmakers’ printmaker. Experimenting with the technique, over printing with multiple blocks, reprinting the same plate many times in different colours, collaging, cropping, hand-colouring, for ever on the search for the best result for that particular print. Her wit, humour and purposeful use of mixed metaphors for dramatic effect were very funny. This humour and love of words came out in her miniature etchings, playing on words, sayings and gently poking fun at people, society and art.

Bernhardine shared a love of Australian flora and fauna with me (Denise). This constant source of inspiration, in particular a love of birds, meant we exchanged sightings on Brush Turkey behaviour, Currawong antics, Magpie carols and the amazing character of the White Winged Choughs at her beloved son Michael’s place in the Capertee Valley.

It was an honour to know Bernhardine. Her life was full and creative but she always had time for her many friends. She seemed to know when someone needed encouragement or some words of wisdom. We will miss her but her light will shine on through all those she inspired.

Peter Lancaster: Fijian Dreamin’ from Pine, Copper, Lime.

November 6, 2019 by Anthea Boesenberg Leave a Comment

Written by Miranda K. Metcalf Published 23rd October 2019

This article is significant in a number of ways. One is that it marks the one year anniversary of pine|copper|lime. An undertaking which is the very definition of a passion project born out of my love for printmaking. My love, and well, a little bit of panic. In late 2017 I was informed by then-employer that after six years as the director of contemporary printmaking at his gallery, he’d be downsizing and neither I, nor my co-director could expect to have a job the following June. How many jobs are there in contemporary printmaking in the world, and how many of those are outside of teaching? I am going to go out on a limb and say between 50 and zero.

I studied printmaking during my master’s in art history and loved every minute of it, making me, and I don’t know if this is an exaggeration to say, one of the few people working within the contemporary printmaking global community strictly as a curator, writer, and advocate without a personal printmaking practice. I’ve dabbled of course, but always, when looking over my attempts, come back to the apt phrase: stay in your lane. This is when I first had the idea for PCL. I wanted a place where our close knit, but geographically divided community could gather, share our stories and learn from one another – our successes as well as our filled in tusche washes.

Lancaster always had a strong interest in drawing. He drew nonstop growing up, and even studied the techniques and images of the old masters. So when it came time to apply for college he was certain he would get into the drawing course to which he had applied at the University of Melbourne. He was, however, not admitted. It was then that someone suggested to him that he try printmaking, if he enjoyed drawing as much as he did this would give him a chance to exercise that interest. Lancaster started to hang around the print studio at the university and did a bit of etching, but it was when he first saw someone drawing on a “bloody big rock” that he knew he’d found his calling. He was hooked – and like the rest of us – he never looked back.

Like many lithographers – and one could argue that perhaps it is a necessary if not sufficient quality to be a lithographer – Lancaster enjoyed the challenges of all things lithography. When something doesn’t go the way it should, there are innumerable possibilities. In lithography one is dealing with mercurial chemistry, the temperature and humidity of the day, or even where the sun comes in through the window. All of that could affect how the printing went. Lancaster eventually found his way to the Tamarind Book of Lithography, which he lovingly refers to as the bible during our interview, and admits that he probably highlighted the book from cover to cover before he was done with it while mastering the craft.

When he learned about the Tamarind course he knew he had to attend. He got his references, applied, packed up and moved from Melbourne to Albuquerque to attend their printer trainer program. At the time, what is now a year long course was condensed into four and a half months, “It was like military school,” he recalls. From that first year of students, then as now, only two people are selected to go on to the second. In the second year, students work in the Tamarind editioning studio alongside the master printer creating lithographs with incredible artists from around the world. Tamarind has produced editions with George Miyasaki, Jim Dine, Judy Chicago, Nick Cave and Kiki Smith to name a few. Yet, Lancaster didn’t even apply for the second year. He was too keen to get to Melbourne are start his own print shop.

Once he was back in Australia, he worked for a year as the technician at the University of Melbourne before he threw it all in to focus on his own publishing shop. “People thought I was crazy, it was a regular salary,” he says, “but I was driven to start my own print shop.”

To read further, or to listen to the podcast, please go here.

To subscribe to Pine Copper Lime go here.

Geraldine’s Studio Sale

September 26, 2019 by Anthea Boesenberg Leave a Comment

Don’t forget Geraldine’s Studio Sale!

WHEN Saturday 5th October 2019 from 12 midday till 4pm

WHERE Paul & Geraldine’s house at 67 Milson Road Cremorne Point.

Geraldine Berkemeier’s Studio Sale

September 8, 2019 by Anthea Boesenberg Leave a Comment

AN INVITATION FROM PAUL BERKEMEIER TO THE SALE OF ART MATERIALS AND EQUIPMENT FROM GERALDINE’S STUDIO.

SATURDAY 5th OCTOBER 12PM TO 4PM

Geraldine was a passionate artist and teacher, skilled in a variety of media. She remained active in her art making until a few years ago when dementia took hold.

Geraldine would have wanted all her materials and equipment to find good new homes, where they can continue to be used to create innovative work for years to come.

With this in mind I plan an open day and sale at Cremorne Point so that colleagues, friends and interested artists can have a good look at the range of items available

and purchase what they need. The plan is to use proceeds of the sale to help prepare a comprehensive record and exhibition of Geraldine’s work.

THE DETAILS

WHEN Saturday 5th October 2019 from 12 midday till 4pm

WHERE Paul & Geraldine’s house at 67 Milson Road Cremorne Point.

WHAT See the illustrated list of materials and equipment – plus stacks of printmaking papers and other sundry items.

HOW Small items, paper etc will have price estimates and will be sold at prices agreed with Paul.

Large items such as presses, rollers etc will be sold in a short auction starting at 3pm.

PAYMENT Payment can be made by EFT, cheque or cash.

COLLECTION After payment, purchases can be taken on the day, or collected later by arrangement.

QUESTIONS Email preferred paul@paulberkemeier.com.au or text: 0418 461 065

BUT: Please hold your questions to the week

before the sale – from 29th September

Other equipment includes a Bookbinding Press, a Bookbinding Punch, jewellery engraving tool, and plastic tubs with lids.

MATERIALS

Paper – various sizes in sheet and roll.

Zinc Plates

Copper Plates

Sheets for waterless litho – Agfa 1055 mm x 811 mm 20 off – new.

Linoleum

Portfolio 900 mm x 655 mm overall with 18 display sleeves to suit 840 mm x 595 mm.

Art Forum

September 8, 2019 by Anthea Boesenberg Leave a Comment

HKOP Collective
Wednesday 11 September, 1–2pm, NAS GalleryHong Kong Open Printshop collective was founded in 2000 and is Hong Kong’s first non-profit open printshop run by artists, starting out as a small art group it has grown into Hong Kong’s leading graphic art organisation. HKOP is dedicated to promoting graphic art, encouraging international cultural exchange, enhancing quality and professional standards in printmaking and giving back to the community by preserving local print art culture.

In 2020 HKOP collective will be presenting the International Multi-disciplinary Printmaking, Artists, Concepts and Techniques conference – IMPACT 11. First held in 1999, IMPACT is one of the largest professional conferences dedicated specifically to printmaking. The theme of ‘Print Art Hong Kong: Legends and Legacies’ has been chosen for the 2020 edition and will explore Hong Kong’s historical lithography and letterpress printing through to printmaking creations by contemporary local artists. Hear HKOP collective Board Chairman Ho-yin Fung and Program Director Sau-mui Yung talk about HKOP and their plans for the conference.

Ho-yin Fung and Sau-mui Yung are currently in Sydney to take part in Sydney Contemporary where HKOP has a stand.

nas.edu.au

National Art School
Forbes Street, Darlinghurst
Sydney NSW 2010
Australia
CRICOS 03197B

+61 2 9339 8744
enquiries@nas.edu.au

Supported by NSW Government

Lichtenstein to Warhol at the NGA

September 6, 2019 by Anthea Boesenberg Leave a Comment

Lichtenstein to Warhol: The Kenneth Tyler Collection

PREVIEW

3 September 2019

Often perceived as a modest artform compared to, say, the grandiosity of painting, printmaking has been a site of experimentation, a fact highlighted in Lichtenstein to Warhol: The Kenneth Tyler Collection at the National Gallery of Australia.

Kenneth Tyler was an innovative printmaker who collaborated with key 20th-century artists. Acquired in 1973, the collection of over 7400 works occupies a significant place in the NGA’s holdings. The exhibition covers post-war American artists across the key art movements, including abstraction, minimalism, neo-Dada and later, pop art.

“When Kenneth Tyler started as a printmaker, lithography was associated with commercial reproduction; and it was almost an unknown alchemical process, and he began to make sense of it in a scientific way,” says David Greenhalgh, assistant curator of the exhibition. “The tradition of lithography had rules; 30 x 40 inches was the size most lithographers worked to, for example. Tyler comes along and says ‘let’s not put these rules on our artists’– instead the artist is key in this scenario. We are going to say, ‘what do you want to make?’ And if we come across technical problems we won’t shut them down, we will say, ‘Ken Tyler will find a solution to your printmaking problems’”.

This led to works such as Robert Rauschenberg’s Booster, 1967, comprised of an X-ray of himself printed roughly life-size. Also on display are sculptures such as Roy Lichtenstein’s 3D multiples. “It was very innovative for the time to be producing editions of sculptural work,” says Greenhalgh. Certain works revive old techniques, such as the ‘rainbow roll’ used to make Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec’s lithographs in the 19th century, which Tyler adapted for Jasper Johns. Greenhalgh says, “It’s a fun sort of vision of it being an innovative workshop, but also as this lineage of lithography throughout time.”

Lichtenstein to Warhol: The Kenneth Tyler Collection
National Gallery of Australia
7 September—9 March 2020

The Tate Adams Memorial Residency at Baldessin Press

March 27, 2019 by Anthea Boesenberg Leave a Comment

State Library Victoria, in partnership with the Baldessin Press, is offering a new artist’s book residency as part of the annual fellowship program.

The Tate Adams Memorial Residency is offered to an artist to accomplish a limited edition or unique state artist’s book, using research from State Library Victoria and the studio facilities at Baldessin Press & Studio.

The Baldessin Press can supply studio access, accommodation and assistance to facilitate the book project in many ways, to the sum of $5000 over the 12-month period.

The recipient also has the opportunity to participate in an event to present their project to the Library, the public and other supporters.

Applications

Applications for the 2019–20 fellowship are now open. Fellowship applications must be received by midnight on Sunday 28 April 2019.

The creative content of applications is of primary importance. Along with clearly describing the book’s proposed content, design and appearance as a finished object, applications can include original text, typography, sketches or examples, proposed printmaking components and binding or presentation. Each application will be judged on individual merit, including the artist’s personal conception, expression and definition of book art.

Note: Applicants must include documented and dated images of their work, along with links to any websites where their work is displayed.

More information

If you have specific questions about the Tate Adams Memorial Residency requirements or selection process, contact Gail Schmidt at fellows@slv.vic.gov.au or on 03 8664 7335.

About Tate Adams & Baldessin Press

Tate Adams AM (1922–2018) established the artist print department at RMIT in 1960 and championed printmaking throughout Australia. His students included George Baldessin.

Situated in bushland 50 km from Melbourne in St Andrews, the Baldessin Press & Studio is named in memory of artist, printmaker and sculptor George Baldessin (1939–78), who built the bluestone studio in 1971.

Garland Magazine Article by Neilton Clarke: Itazu Litho Grafik.

December 10, 2018 by sydprint Leave a Comment

Itazu Litho-Grafik (板津石版画工房 ): The Stone Letter Project