Thursday 14 February 2013

inked up

We went on a "school trip" to see the Paulozzi and Henderson prints at First Site the newish gallery in Colchester.  The boys got together in Essex in the 50s and produced designs for screen prints and collages etc. to be used as wallpaper, crockery etc.  I think we had some black and white dinner plates when I was a child with similar designs. The Gallery tried to make use of it's impressive [but useless for hanging work] sloping walls by sticking big sea black and white cut out fossil designs on them.


The use of newspapers and sacking and black ink to get textural effects was attractive but would have been somewhat over whelming as wall paper I think.
Dunno why this lady's photo was in one of the cases but thought she was worth the visit alone.
After lunch we went down to the Minories gallery, small creaking wooden floored original gallery which was full to busting with paintings by local artist.  Won't name him as I wasn't that taken with the geometric boxes he had relentlessly stalked over the years.  He came upstairs to chat to us and was very sweet.
We were instructed to create our own straight lines drawings with charcoal but I think these cup marks on the table [that I gently stroked with blackened finger tips] were the most successful thing I produced.