The Art of Collaboration | One Year Later
John McLean, Untitled (2013)
Alongside the many new editions produced in the studio in 2019, the studio presented a special exhibition Kip Gresham: The Art of Collaboration.
For a little over 11 weeks of springtime, The Heong Gallery - part of Downing College, Cambridge - played host to a display documenting the genius behind the role of master-printmaker Kip Gresham. The exhibition demonstrated the portfolio of many reputable names whom he has worked collaboratively with throughout his impressive career. The Print Studio history confidently documents the timeless medium of print and Kip’s proficiency in various techniques.
“Printmaking is not about reproducing an existing piece of art. It’s about producing an entirely new work in a quite different medium. Artist and printer work together from the beginning of the process... one creative mind working in the service of another, part facilitator, part enhancer.”
Celebrating over 40 years of artistic partnerships with giants of the British and international art world, the exhibition featured work by 21 Royal Academicians. Among the recognisable artists included were Peter Blake, Susan Hiller, Antony Gormley, Richard Long, Eduardo Paolozzi, Cornelia Parker, Alison Wilding, and Paula Rego.
“...working with artists was, “like mind reading”; [Kip] has an inherent sense of what the artist wants and the expertise to make it manifest...The body of work from The Print Studio archive clearly demonstrates this distinction of excellence.”
Kip Gresham has come a long way since his very first self-directed experiments with organdie mesh and iron-on stencils at the tender age of 16, but the master printmaker took to his practice like duck to water.
Artists are inherently drawn to others of their nature. Influence, inspiration and pairing is almost organic and unsurprisingly some prominent names in the UK and US have sought him for artistic alliance. Since beginning his work with others around 1975, Kip has engaged this creative collaboration process with countless artists, many trusting in his knowledge with their first applications to printmaking.
The Art of Collaboration, installation view at The Heong Gallery.
“...A day of working together making monoprints, a mysterious, challenging, playful, magical business. An adventure... How I love it.”
Click here to read the review by Studio International, one of the world’s leading art journals.
Click here to read an interview with Kip from Varsity Magazine, the independent newspaper for the University of Cambridge
All quotes are referenced from Kip Gresham, The Art of Collaboration Exhibition Catalogue, published by Downing College, 2019
[1] Alan Bookbinder, Foreword, pp. 9
[2] Joanne Stuhr, Foreword, pp.11
[3] Willard Boepple, Collaborators in Toft, pp. 35
Posted by Karina Sawyer