On Saturday 18 February we celebrated the launch of Graphic Impact: Our Lives in Print – a new exhibition inspired by the Glasgow Print Studio archive and featuring artworks by people from Platform art groups, Galgael and Glasgow Print Studio members.
The exhibition runs until Sun 9 April 2023 and on the 18th we hosted a Full House event of free activities – including DJ BRB in the cafe, a Travelling Gallery ‘art in a bus’ visit and a chance to try out screen printing (and take home your print) with a workshop by Glasgow Print Studio artist Rosalind Lawless. It was fantastic to welcome everyone to Platform for a busy afternoon of activities.
Graphic Impact: Our Lives in Print features original prints selected from the archive of Glasgow Print Studio alongside new artworks created by Print Panel – which consisted of nine people from Gal Gael community in Govan, ten people from the Platform and seven artist members from Glasgow Print Studio.
Each member of Print Panel selected an archive print and made either an etching or a screen print in response to that work. All of the archive prints exhibited are made by women artists and range in date from the 1970s to the 2010s.
Print Panel met together over a series of weekly sessions to tour the printmaking facilities at Glasgow Print Studio, learn and explore the archive. The group listened to oral history recordings and met Glasgow Print Studio artist members who talked about their work and gave short demonstrations. Each person went on to make a print for the exhibition in the professional printmaking workshop.
The project aimed to highlight the role and contribution of women, who have been involved with Glasgow Print Studio since it was founded in 1972, and to provide opportunities for people to engage with the archive in new ways and explore fine art printmaking. This exhibition was shown at Glasgow Print Studio, Trongate103 in 2020 as part of the project Graphic Impact: Our Lives in Print, funded by the William Grant Foundation. Full details of the project can be viewed along with the recordings of oral histories from early members and staff at https://www.graphic-impact.co.uk
Visiting us for the launch day was the Travelling Gallery’s art in a bus, in partnership with University of Edinburgh. They presented Resistance in Residence - an exhibition about community-led struggles for safe, affordable housing in Scotland curated by MScR students of Collections and Curating Practices at the University of Edinburgh in partnership with the University’s Art Collection and the Travelling Gallery. The exhibition featured contemporary artworks, archival materials and audience responses by artists Winnie Herbstein, Joey Simons, Keira McLean, and Lucas Priest that explore past, present and future community efforts for fair housing conditions.
*Graphic Impact: Our Lives in Print exhibition runs at Platform Mondays to Saturdays, 10am - 5pm, until Sun 9 April 2023. Admission is free.
The Graphic Impact: Our Lives in Print exhibition features artwork by:
Sam Ainsley, Elise V. Allan, Elizabeth Blackadder, Christine Borland, Emma Booth, Victoria Brown, Margaret Connelly, Ashley Cook, Eileen Cooper, Francis Corkhill, Helen de Main, Rohini Devasher, Nicola Devlin, Rachel Duckhouse, Elke Finkenauer, Lorna Fernie, Elaine Fisher, Moyna Flannigan, Brenda Gilmour, Gillian Grant, Robert Haughie, Ema Kasahara, Isabel Kean, Elspeth Lamb, Mary Land, Khalid Lamki, Joyce Leitch, Bet Low, Drew Mackie, Elizabeth Martin, Sheena McGregor, Alex Milsom, Scott McAlinden, Kit Ching McKeown, Angela McLaughlin, Dani McNamara, Dawn McTaggart, Tony Michael, Jacki Parry, Jila Peacock, Ciara Phillips, Rowan Rain, Mamiko Rokudo, Gillian Richardson, Maia Ronan, Elaine K.M. Shemilt, Arlene Stewart, Liz Thomson, Fiona Watson, Fiona Wilson and Hanneline Visnes.
