Manly Art Gallery & Museum (MAG&M) is celebrating the 60th anniversary of Australia's longest-running independent printmaking association, Sydney Printmakers, with a special exhibition, To the Edges.
MAG&M has had a long association with Sydney Printmakers, hosting the Hot off the Press exhibition a decade ago to mark its half century.
Mayor Michael Regan said To the Edges celebrates the artists of Sydney Printmakers, its standing in the printmaking community and the role it has played in the history of Australian art more generally.
"Sydney Printmakers and MAG&M are very much part of the northern region of Sydney's cultural eco-system, so it makes sense to have this exhibition in partnership to recognise the significant work of its members."
The exhibition's curator, Katherine Roberts, also senior curator at MAG&M, said To The Edges will feature all new works by printmakers, especially completed for the exhibition.
"For this exhibition project, members were tasked with thinking beyond the familiar, to challenge themselves individually and collectively. They considered the use of traditional media in innovative and unconventional ways, as well as co-opting new media in the development of their works.
"The artists have worked 'to the edges' physically and metaphorically, bleeding their prints to the edges of the paper, and/or pushing their materials, ideas and themselves to their limits.
"The resultant collection of works is diverse, up-scaled, multi-dimensional and open our minds and imaginations to the possibilities of the print medium."
Katherine Roberts said, after 60 years, Sydney Printmakers continues to thrive.
"It continues to demonstrate its currency in the quality and diversity of the work its artists create, and in the collegiate way its members work to share ideas and resources, and to support each other.
"Membership of Sydney Printmakers affords artists the opportunity to exhibit together frequently and widely, to build connections and to nurture friendships. They inspire and learn from each other, and like so many creatives, they display great generosity of spirit. Of its fifty-six current members, forty-seven are showing work in this new exhibition.
"A look through its website links you to the stories of its early pioneers, its national and international projects and its list of significant Australian artists who are current members."
PUBLIC PROGRAMS
Exhibition Opening
Friday 25 June 2021, 6 - 8pm
by Sasha Grishin AM, FAHA, Emeritus Professor ANU
