Printmakers Council

Printmakers Council
Name	Printmakers Council
Formation	1965
Type	Arts organisation
Headquarters	London
Region served	United Kingdom
Leader title	Chair

Printmakers Council is a United Kingdom-based artist-led society founded in 1965 to promote and support printmaking as an original contemporary art form. It has fostered networks among artists, curators, galleries and museums, and has organised exhibitions, publications and educational programmes across London and other British regions. The Council has engaged with major cultural institutions, commercial venues and international partners to sustain public and critical interest in printmaking.

History

The organisation was established in the mid-1960s amid a vibrant London arts scene that involved figures associated with Tate Gallery, Royal College of Art, Victoria and Albert Museum, Hayward Gallery and British Council. Early meetings included artists, critics and curators who had links to Serpentine Galleries, Whitechapel Gallery, Institute of Contemporary Arts and regional centres such as Leeds Art Gallery and Manchester Art Gallery. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s the Council responded to changing institutional priorities at bodies like Arts Council England and collaborated with publishers and printers connected to Camden Arts Centre and independent presses in Soho. The Council’s trajectory intersected with international movements visible at events such as the Biennale de Paris and exhibitions coordinated by the British Council abroad.

Mission and Activities

The Council’s mission foregrounds the production, exhibition and critical appraisal of printmaking, working with museums such as Tate Modern, British Museum, National Gallery of Art and university collections including University of Oxford and University of London. Activities include curating touring shows that have appeared at venues like Southbank Centre, Barbican Centre, Royal Academy of Arts and smaller commercial galleries in Mayfair. The organisation facilitates residencies with workshops that reference historic ateliers in Paris, New York City, Edinburgh and Glasgow and collaborates with conservation departments at institutions such as Victoria and Albert Museum and Rijksmuseum.

Membership and Organisation

Membership draws practicing artists, print workshops, curators and collectors including those connected to Royal College of Art, Slade School of Fine Art, Goldsmiths, University of London, Central Saint Martins and regional art schools. Governance has included professionals with ties to Arts Council England, British Council, civic museums in Birmingham and Liverpool and advisers from institutions like Courtauld Institute of Art. The Council has maintained links with print studios such as Tiong Bahru, Petersburg Printmakers and prominent presses that have worked with artists exhibited at Serpentine Galleries and Institute of Contemporary Arts.

Exhibitions and Publications

The organisation has mounted thematic and survey exhibitions showcasing work by contributors who have also exhibited at Tate Britain, Hayward Gallery, Royal Academy of Arts and international biennials including Venice Biennale and São Paulo Biennial. Catalogue essays have been authored by writers affiliated with The Times Literary Supplement, Apollo (magazine), and academics from University of Cambridge and University of Edinburgh. Publications range from printed catalogues to collaborative booklets produced with presses that have published work for artists represented in collections at British Museum, Museum of Modern Art and Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

Education and Outreach

Educational initiatives have involved partnerships with schools and higher education departments at Royal College of Art, Slade School of Fine Art, Goldsmiths, University of London and community projects coordinated with Arts Council England funding streams. Workshops and talks have featured visiting lecturers who teach at institutions such as University of Oxford, University College London and regional art colleges in Bristol and Sheffield. Outreach projects have cooperated with public programmes at Southbank Centre, Barbican Centre and local authority museums in Camden and Islington.

Notable Members and Alumni

Members and alumni have included artists, printers and curators whose careers have intersected with Royal Academy of Arts exhibitions, residency programmes at Cité internationale des arts and commissions for institutions like Tate Modern and British Museum. Several have been represented in collections at Museum of Modern Art, Tate Britain, Victoria and Albert Museum and featured in publications by Phaidon Press and Thames & Hudson. Notable career intersections link to curatorial figures associated with Hayward Gallery, critics writing for The Guardian and gallery directors from Whitechapel Gallery and Serpentine Galleries.

Collections and Legacy

Works associated with the Council and its members are held in public and private collections at institutions including Tate Modern, British Museum, Victoria and Albert Museum, British Council Collection and university museums across United Kingdom. The Council’s legacy persists in the survival of independent print studios and the continued presence of printmaking courses at Royal College of Art, Slade School of Fine Art, Central Saint Martins and in national touring exhibitions supported by Arts Council England. Its archival materials have informed research projects at Courtauld Institute of Art and exhibition histories produced by curators at Tate Britain and regional museums.

Category:Arts organisations based in London