Mo' Print - Month of Printmaking | 17 May - 13 June 2020

Upsilon Gallery is pleased to present a curated selection of prints and multiples in celebration of the art of printmaking. Printmaking is generally described as transferring artwork to paper through printing — yet there are a number of techniques on doing so. Printmaking is unique in that each print — while it may be of the same design — is each an original. Artists often appreciate small differences between prints — as printmaking is a unique process done by hand.

This collection features rare and exquisite artworks by some of the top names in the field of printmaking, such as David Hockney, Ellsworth Kelly, Vija Celmins, Robert Motherwell, Osvaldo Mariscotti, Yayoi Kusama, and Roy Lichtenstein, among others.

Relief

The earliest major category of printmaking. The printing surface, usually a wooden block, but sometimes a linoleum block or even metal plate, is carved so that the top surface holds the ink and the lower surface remains clean. Unlike intaglio prints, relief prints do not require high pressure in printing. Relief prints are compatible with letterpress printing and are therefore frequently used in book illustrations.

Intaglio

One of the basic categories of printmaking, including the individual graphic media of etching and engraving. The key trait of intaglio printmaking is that the ink rests in linear incisions or areas beneath the upper surface of the plate, which must be wiped off before printing. Intaglio prints are printed in roller presses under great pressure, which forces the paper into the incisions and produces an indented border or platemark around the image. Forms of intaglio printing include aquatint, drypoint, engraving, etching, and mezzotint.

Lithography

The chief planographic technique, invented by Alois Senefelder in the late eighteenth century. An image is drawn or painted with a greasy medium on a flat surface, usually fine-grained limestone, but also zinc or aluminum plates. The medium may range from chalk-like to liquid (tusche). The plate is treated with nitric acid and gum arabic to set the image, dampened, inked, and printed, traditionally using a press with a bar that scrapes across the back of the paper laid face down on the stone.

Screenprint

A printmaking medium based on the simple idea of the stencil. Using a variety of substances, the artist blocks out a design on a screen of silk, cotton, nylon, or other material. Ink is forced through the screen with a squeegee. “Screenprint” is synonymous with “serigraph” and “silkscreen.”

Mo' Print - Month of Printmaking: Celebrating the Art of Printmaking

Relief

Intaglio

Lithography

Screenprint

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