Exhibitions
Browse the latest exhibition and catch a glimpse of traditional letterpress in action in the studio to the rear of the gallery.
Exhibitions in 2021
Exhibitions in 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!
Mountain and Meadow by Sue Clegg
18 September – 16 October
The Smallprint Company was honoured to be asked to judge in the Derby Print Open 2020 and we were thrilled to offer Sue Clegg a solo exhibition as a result.
‘Mountain and Meadow’ brings together a collection of moments captured in nature and the landscape, from the small scale of a back yard garden to the glorious mountains in Cumbria and beyond. Sue Clegg combines experimental printmaking approaches to translate her on site studies and experiences.
www.leicestersocietyofartists.co.uk
Past Exhibitions in the Studio Gallery
Ordinary People by Rob Chapman
27 June – 31 July
‘Ordinary People’ by Rob Chapman represents the fate of ordinary people at the hands of those whose desire for power is greater than their compassion for, or even their consideration of those people. With a time frame of less than one hundred years it nevertheless can be seen to represent the actions of the powerful on their subject populations throughout history.
It is simply 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, 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 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
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.
Modern Victorians: Recording and Classifying
6 March – 9 May 2021
Winged by Clive Wheeler
Is my own personal collection of winged insects, but as a modern Victorian I have avoided the Formaldehyde. Starting with some experiments in watercolour painting to investigate shapes and colours I went on to create new photogram insects using colour photographic paper in the darkroom at Photo Parlour.
The Essence of Trees by Gustavo Espinosa
7 September – 12 October 2020
The essence of trees is wood; heartwood, sapwood and bark… These images are made from photographs of a wide variety of trees: growing trees, dying trees, trees cut down or fallen, rotting wood returning to the earth. The photographs were made on walks in the countryside, in ancient forests and once-landscaped parks.
To Have Lived a Life: Tully Crook – Prints
5 July – 10 August 2020
Tully Crook is an English artist born in 1938 in Hampstead, London. He trained at the St. Martins School of Art and had an extensive career in advertising. Crook is best known for his prints of birds and nudes, and he has also exhibited as a sculptor, having a one-man exhibition of imaginary islands created from cork structures at the prestigious Institute of Contemporary Arts. From the late 1970s until the 1990s he was based in New York and he now resides in Derbyshire, concentrating on painting and printmaking.
Derby Print Open
7 – 29 June 2020
The Derby Print Open, hosted by Green Door Printmaking Studio, showcases contemporary printmaking from artists based in the United Kingdom.
Backgrounds. New paintings by Rob Padley
26 April – 25 May 2020
Format19
15 March – 14 April
The Office of Revised Futures curated by Rodrigo Orrantia: an installation of the work by five artists working with photography and collage.
Mark Murphy, Hannah Hughes, Melinda Gibson, Lewis Bush, Fernando Martin Godoy
Beatrice Tailby-Hardstaff
www.beatricetailbyhardstaff.com
Vessels and the Spaces We Keep Safe by Bernie Rutter
bernie-rutter-artist.tumblr.com
Once Upon a Time… by Pandora Johnson
Portraits: Daniel Dytrych
www.danieldytrychphotography.co.uk
Prints and Bookarts: Peter Knight
Looking Beyond: Rob Chapman
robchapmanartistprintmaker.com
In Print: Ralph McGaul
http://ralphmcgaul.co.uk/
Time and Motion by Gillan Paris
Post-Truth Mail Art Project – Various Artists (national and international)
mailartprojects.blogspot.co.uk/2016/11/posttruth-uk.html
WE R ALL SERVING TIME by Hal Wright
Arboretum by John Blakemore and Rosalind Pounder
www.johnblakemore.co.uk
About Rosalind
Floral Bouquets by Barbara Smith
www.barbarasmith.co.uk
Worn: Concealed Shoes by Chrissy Stangroom
www.facebook.com/gdartbychrissy
Traces in the Void by Sarah Roach
Format International Photography Festival: Habitat
www.formatfestival.com
Works by Chris Barker
Seventy Years by Anna Johnson
www.armadilloprints.co.uk
Wood Engravings by Rob Chapman
www.robchapmanartistprintmaker.com