Exhibiting 45 years of printmaking at Tairawhiti Museum

THROUGH THE DECADES: The Gisborne Printmakers Group exhibition will display works from throughout the decades the group has been together, like these works, Untitled from 1990 by Gary Underdown, above, and Aku Ika by Clayton Gibson (1998), left. Pictures supplied

The Gisborne Printmakers Group celebrates 45 years of making handmade prints this month with an exhibition at Tairāwhiti Museum.

We Can't Stop Now displays art from 31 past and present printmakers throughout the decades the printmakers group has been operating.

Works dating back to the 1970s and ‘80s have been gifted by friends, family and art collectors for the exhibition and include prints by the late Graeme Mudge, Norman Maclean and the late Juliet Bowen.

“Printmaking is one of those mediums where you can enjoy exploring your approach to art in several ways. There are various evolutions and roads to take until the finished print appears,” says Jean Johnston, one of the founding members of the Gisborne Printmakers Group.

The prints on display have been created by zinc etching, drypoint, collagraph, solar plates, linocuts and lithography.

The name of the exhibition and accompanying extended catalogue book came about after Penny Ormerod tutored the first printmaking course inside the newly refurbished Lysnar House Studios in October of 1976.

At the end of the two-day course, she produced a flagon of dry sherry and said, “we can't stop now”.

The catalogue details the group's history using the printmaking studio in Lysnar House and pays tribute to the efforts of Doreen Costello, Ormerod and Phyllis Underdown, who helped establish the group in 1976 and ensured its continuity.

The Gisborne Printmakers Group's exhibition We Can't Stop Now opens to the public at Tairāwhiti Museum on Saturday and will run until December 5. The Extended Catalogue book “We Can't Stop Now” by Jean Johnston is available for purchase.

Due to Covid-19 restrictions, the opening night on Friday is now invite only, with a limit on the numbers who may be in the gallery space at any given time. The exhibition will be open to the public from Saturday.