Recent Work from the Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers
On View: October 28, 2016 – November 23, 2016
Opening reception: Friday, October 28, 2016 from 6:30 pm – 9:00 pm
Pictured: Mychael Barratt, Life Imitating Art VIII (detail), intaglio with hand coloring, 2001
Highpoint is thrilled to present Art of the Print: Recent Work from the Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers, an exhibition curated by James Boyd Brent. As a member of the London-based society since 1989, Boyd Brent selected works by 18 of the Society’s current members to demonstrate the skill and breadth of work being created by this illustrious organization.
Curator James Boyd Brent noted:
The eighteen artists in this exhibition were selected because each makes work that demonstrates their love of printmaking media and their obvious enthusiasm for the qualities that make a print uniquely a print. These include a love of tackling surfaces and finding ways of bringing new ideas to life through subtle manipulation of processes. I hope viewers of this exhibition will see how each of these artists' work exemplifies this sensibility.
The subject of landscape is a recurring theme in this selection. The work is rooted in traditional printmaking (with some artists finding inspiration in 18th and 19th century prints). The overall flavor, however, is contemporary. It's about the modern world: urban, rural, global, and interconnected.
The Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers is an international art group based in London whose artists have connections all over the world. These artists come from a variety of cultural backgrounds and nationalities—some are newly elected members fresh out of art school, others are printmaking veterans. I've reflected this diversity in my selection.
Featured Artists:
- Mychael Barratt
- Neil Bousfield
- Meg Buick
- Dolores de Sade
- Anne Desmet
- Morgan Doyle
- Edwina Ellis
- Marianne Ferm
- David Ferry
- Peter Ford
- Katherine Jones
- Martin Langford
- Frederic Morris
- Dawson Murray
- Sumi Perera
- Nana Shiomi
- Mei Chen Tseng
- Edward Twohig
The Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers was established in London in 1880 by Francis Seymour Haden. Originally known as the Royal Society of Painter-Etchers or the ‘RE Society’, the organization was founded in reaction to the Royal Academy of Arts’ reluctance to accept prints as a form of artistic expression and to promote the unique artistic importance of the print. Today, the Society is one of the premier printmaking organizations and has over 90 members from across the globe.
About the Curator: James Boyd Brent grew up in the United Kingdom and studied printmaking at Ruskin University, Cambridge and Central St. Martin’s, London. He moved to Minnesota as a Fulbright Scholar in the early 1990s and received his MFA in printmaking from the University of Minnesota. A member of the Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers since 1989, Brent is a painter and printmaker whose work has been exhibited and collected internationally. He has been a member of the Highpoint Printmaker’s Cooperative since 2004. He currently lives and works in Minneapolis and is an Associate Professor in the College of Design at the University of Minnesota.