FROM wallpaper to Warhol, printmaking is a unique art form that has been used over the centuries for both commercial mass production and fine art.
Yet for years it was considered a lesser form of art, more likely to be viewed as serviceable, unglamorous and lacking in distinction as opposed to the elegance associated with painting or sculpting.
However those at Belfast Print Workshop (BPW) are aiming to change the minds of the masses as they prepare to host their first visual arts print fair later this month.
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Dónall Billings, studio manager and technician at BPW, explains how he hopes the print fair will be an opportunity to promote the medium and enable people to gain a better understanding of the practice.
“The fair aims to celebrate printmaking,” he says.
“There are six print studios from all around involved in it including ourselves. It’s to showcase what our members do within their own print studios and the different types of printmaking available. It also aims highlight the art form and create a bit more interest within it.”
Funded by Belfast City Council the event will be held at the historic St Comgall’s building, formerly home to the Belfast Model School and dating back to 1855. Dónall believes the newly restored space will provide the perfect setting for the immersive experience.
“It used to be an old primary school that’s been derelict for a number of years so it’s great to have the opportunity to run this event there for the first time.”
During the fair visitors will be able to meet masters of the craft from carefully selected printmaking workshops located across the north and south including Cló from Donegal, Derry Print Workshop, Omagh Print Workshop, Seacourt Print Workshop from Bangor and Creative Spark based in Dundalk.
Whilst discussing the printmaking process my attention is drawn to Dónall’s apron and the various multicoloured smudges splattered across it. Is it a messy job, I ask. “Yes,” he laughs, “there’s always that contrast between keeping your fancy expensive paper clean and working with messy, icky, oily inks.”
“Wipe it on anything except the paper,” jokes visual artist Anna Mays who will be giving a screen printing demonstration at the fair.
Screen printing is arguably the most familiar form of printmaking as Andy Warhol famously used it to create his 1964 Shot Sage Blue Marilyn print which sold for $195 million.
“There’s a lot of processes behind it that I think a lot of people don’t see,” she says.
“Screen printing has quite a long set up and you have to do each layer separately but then once you’ve got the screen on the press you can print loads really quickly.
“I love having a process guide me through rather than just having a blank canvas which I think is quite scary, whereas in print you have a whole process to see you along which is less intimidating.”
After completing a three-month production residency at BPW in 2021 Anna held her first solo show entitled Disembodied which explored the human body through visual and tactile processes. Her work will be available to view at the print fair.
“My work is all in relation to the human body, kind of going inside it, looking at our skin, our insides and our flesh,” she explains.
“The body is a really immediate, intimate thing and then when it becomes translated into print you have to put it through all these processes which then raises the question - does giving something the ability to be reproduced affect how you view it?”
I love having a process guide me through rather than just having a blank canvas which I think is quite scary, whereas in print you have a whole process to see you along which is less intimidating
— Anna Mays
Since its creation in 1977 BPW has become an established part of the visual art scene in Belfast. For 45 years it has provided a dynamic home for printmakers like Anna, allowing them to experiment with new technology, materials and modes of presentation enabling the process to evolve.
“So many artists depend on the space,” Anna explains.
“If you’re a printmaker and there’s no printmaking workshop in your city you can’t make your work – it’s not like you can do it at home.”
Dónall adds: “It’s a unique place. There are so many characters and different people who come in and make use of this space and it’s a great community and we have connections with different studios around Belfast and even internationally.
“We also have a huge archive spanning the 45 years we’ve been open which gives a view of the living history of Belfast through the visual art of printmaking. Many printmakers take inspiration from their environment, their surroundings and their own stories.
“Behind every print there’s a person and they all have a story to tell.”
In addition to nurturing creativity events like the visuals arts fair it also give artists the opportunity to form and grow a community.
“It’s about trying to engage with communities and other people out there who don’t know what printmaking is and have never heard of it before and to promote this workshop,” Dónall explains.
“It’s been here for 45 years, it’s funded by the Arts Council but there’s still been challenges with funding and it’s one of those things that you would miss if it was gone.”
“Don’t miss out on this opportunity,” he laughs.
“Come and see original handmade print artworks, come and meet the artists see how it’s done.
“There will also be musicians there and it’s an opportunity for people to perhaps go on to some of the courses we run as well and learn some of these techniques and skills that are hundreds or thousands of years old and help us keep that heritage alive.”
