Exhibitions in 2021
The Studio Gallery
Alongside a series of co-ordinated events and exhibitions, the studio showcases work made in the studio by The Smallprint Co, the people who take part in our workshops and collaborations with other artists and practitioners.
To reflect this the Gallery Space has become the Studio Gallery. Please visit, and please do enjoy!
Format 21 – London Alternative Photography Collective
17 May – 13 June
The London Alternative Photography Collective was founded by Melanie King in 2013, and has grown from a small group of analogue and alternative photography practitioners to a collective which produces large-scale symposiums, exhibitions and workshops.
Co-directed by Melanie King, Almudena Romero, Diego Valente and Hannah Fletcher, the LAPC is an open collective, which anyone can join. Open to artists who have ideas for projects, the LAPC has always been about promoting the accessibility and creative possibilities of analogue and experimental photography.
LAPC aims to support practitioners who challenge traditional ways of using photography to reflect on contemporary issues and aim to provide a platform for skill exchange.
The premise of the open collective allows a wide range of artists, photographers, makers, curators and theorists to guide the activities of the LAPC, enabling practitioners to swap ideas, skills and foster collaborations. We have a specific interested in contemporary art which revitalises antiquated and forgotten processes. The LAPC also encourages for tutorials and recipes to be shared so that these fascinating processes do not die out with time.
Ordinary People by Rob Chapman
27 June – 31 July
This body of work was put together in order to represent the fate of ordinary people at the hands of those whose desire for power was/is greater than their compassion for, or even their consideration of, those people. The time frame for this work is only one hundred years, 1920s – 2021, but it acts as a representative for the actions of the powerful on the broader populations throughout history. It simply seems wrong that one person’s ambition can be sufficient excuse for the suffering and death of the people they have governance over or have imposed their will upon. Furthermore, the oppression of those with differing religious, racial, political, sexual, etc, origins or beliefs has happened in the past, is happening now and appears set to continue into the future.
The work consists of wood engravings which are made in looser and in some ways, with the more experimental approaches that I have been working towards recently. Whilst much of the work conforms to the usual editioned, wall hung approach I have found that the production of multiple prints enables me to explore different ways of presenting the image. The combination or separation of images causes them to be viewed in a variety of ways – as individuals, as groups united in suffering, of masses of movement, for example. And the presentation of work outside the frame enables a greater intimacy with the viewer. In other words, I can play around with images in different formats to find out what they say to me as well as the observer. Thus, the subject can be seen and read in varying versions according to how the same images are presented.
robchapmanartistprintmaker.com