TPG@SA Print Gallery - Curating project - The Printing Girls

The Printing Girls (TPG) is a collective of South African female artists who work in the specialised medium of printmaking.

We are a dedicated professional community, collaborative in nature, offering each other support and technical help with a spirit of generosity.

We are beginning to exhibit widely and are sparking interest on the local art scene.

What is an editioned original print?

When an artist makes a series of original prints, she creates a matrix - a surface that she has made marks on. Then, by applying ink to the surface of the matrix, she transfers the ink to the paper – this is sometimes called an impression.

By applying the ink and transferring it to the paper in the same way each time, she will create a number of near-identical impressions. Remember making potato prints as a child? It’s pretty much the same principle! Though a lot more sophisticated technically …

By limiting the number of impressions, she creates a limited edition of prints. Once that edition has been documented as such, according to the ethics of printmaking, she is not allowed to pull any more of these identical impressions from that matrix.

What is a monotype?

Over several decades, as well as a medium to create editioned prints, printmaking has also become more experimental and spontaneous. A monotype is also an impression, but here it is a one-off impression. There are many different ways to create a monotype, but the techniques include:

A trace monotype – this is a hand-printed technique

A subtractive monotype – this may be hand-printed or run through a press

An additive monotype – this may be hand-printed or run through a press

A watercolour monotype – this must be run through a press

A gel plate monotype – this is a hand-printed technique

A screenprint monotype – this is printed through the mesh of a screen using a squeegee

This final TPG exhibition has come at the end of a full, exciting year.

In March we held a show of exclusively relief prints at our first exhibition in Pretoria - New Girls on the Block – at The Arts Association of Pretoria.

In April, the TPG members based in the Western Cape self-initiated an exhibition of their own –

At The Table – at the Spin Street Gallery in Cape Town. We held our annual exhibition - #TPG21 – at The Art Room in Johannesburg in August (delayed for a month due to Covid restrictions).

Also in August, we held an exhibition at White River Gallery in Mpumalanga – Mother Nature in Monotype – to acknowledge Women’s Month, which was limited to monotype print techniques. Now, at TPG @ SA Print Gallery 2021, the admin team finally have the chance to indulge themselves by selecting our ‘pick of the year’ - their personal favourite artwork by each artist. The first section of the catalogue features these prints, which are all on show at the SA Print Gallery from 09 October

Allison Klein

in the coral tree

Amy-Jane van den Bergh

Twilight 2021 Reduction linocut Edition of 5

Andie Rodwell

2021 Etching with chine collée Edition of 5

Ludwig

Cat on the Block (in orange)

Ashton Dingle

March of the Elephants

2021 Linocut Edition of 20 E.V.

Cinthia Sifa Mulanga

The mirrors we talk about ii 2021 Linocut with collage Edition of 1

Edge of the Sky 2021 10-colour reduction linocut Edition of 7

Claire Zinn

Cloudia Rivett-Carnac

Donna Solovei

monotype Edition of 1

Elize de Beer

2021 Aquatint and marbled chine collée Edition of 4

Words Within II

Elrie Joubert

Elzanne Louw

2021 Linocut Edition of 2

The way things seem to us

Full Moon

Esther Simonis

Fiver Locker

2021 Trace monotype Edition of 1

Mother Nature: Fire

Genevieve Schwulst

There’s enough Room 2021 Linocut Edition of 3

Georgina Berens

Epistemology

Kay Fourie

Ek wens ek was ‘n wolk

2021 Reduction linocut Edition of 6

Keabetswe Makhooane

Lengana 2021 Monotype using linocut & collograph Edition of 1

Kelebogile Masilo

Kim Lee Loggenberg

2021 Watercolour monotype Edition of 1

Yoni II

Laurel Holmes

Rocks and hard places IV 2021 Linocut Edition of 6 E.V.

Leonora Venter

Catscapades IV

2021 Linocut & watercolour Edition of 20 E.V.

Lyn van Greunen

2021 Reduction linocut Edition of 10

Night night, Nightjar II

Kuhn-Botma

Madelize van der Merwe

Mandy Conidaris

Hoping for peace 2019 Woodcut Edition of 12

Marelise Van Wyk

Momberg

Neeske Alexander

Flotsam and Jetsam Fragments

Nicolette Geldenhuys

In Quietness and Confidence

2021 Multiplate monotype Edition of 1

Nomvula Hoko

Renee Johannes

2021 Etching and linocut Edition of 1

Leonardo’s Madonna

Roxy Kaczmarek

Sanmarie Harms

Oceanic Crust 2021 Monotype Edition of 1

Sarah Judge

2021 Aquatint, drypoint & chine collée Edition of 8

Theona Truter

Nine Deeds of Memorable Deeds and Sayings -The

Reading Room 2021 Linocut Edition of 3

Jagger

Thuli Lubisi

Descents of the same chromatic 2021 Linocut Edition of 6

Yolanda Warnich

2021 Frottage on Fabriano and Washi papers Edition of 1

Earth’s Traces I

TPG 2021: OUR PRINT EXCHANGE PROJECTS (all prints on 20 x 20 cm paper)

TPG#1 PRINT EXCHANGE: our first! _ to complement our exhibition New Girls on the Block, the print had to be a block print, or a print that incorporated some element of block printing

https://issuu.com/theprintinggirls/docs/2021_03_the_first_tpg_print_exchange

TPG#2 PRINT EXCHANGE: Eco-longing _ a reflection on our sense of disconnection from nature during the 15 months of Lockdown (works created in July 2021)

https://issuu.com/theprintinggirls/docs/the_eco-longing_project

TPG#3 PRINT EXCHANGE: The Daphne Project _ a reinterpretation of the Greek Myth of Daphne and Apollo to acknowledge Women’s Month https://issuu.com/theprintinggirls/docs/the_daphne_project

What is a print exchange?

Printmaking is the only art medium that allows artists to swap identical original works of art with each other. And printmaking – internationally and within South Africa - has a rich tradition of Print Exchanges.

There is often a theme or technical limitation, such as everyone using the same technique or interpreting the same theme.

A print exchange is a formal swapping process, usually arranged by a university, college, printmaking studio or collective. These three 2021 Print Exchanges were organised by Mandy Conidaris, one of TPG’s admin team members.

Here, for each print exchange, the TPG artists each created an edition of 8 prints, kept the A/P (Artist’s Proof) for herself, packaged up all the rest, and posted them to Mandy.

She took the first 5 prints of each artist’s edition and randomly created collections of 5 prints ... so each participating artist will receive back a small pack of 5 prints by fellow TPG artists to which she can add her own A/P – what a treat!

Print number 6 in the edition was retained for The Printing Girls’ Print Archive.

This section of the catalogue shows the beauty of the different TPG artists’ imaginations, and the diversity in the ways that they embraced the technical or thematic limitations.

In this catalogue, most are arranged so that a pair are in conversation with each other.

Cloudia Rivett-Carnac

Leonora Venter

Marelise van

Yolanda

Georgina Berens

Thuli Lubisi

the

Yolanda Warnich

Magnolia

Theona Truter

Sanmarie Harms

Marelise van Wyk

Even the weeds 2021 Monotype and collage Edition of 1 (The Eco-longing Project)

Leonora

Purnaa Deb

Cloudia Rivett-Carnac

Neeske Alexander

Kay Fourie

Ann Ludwig

of Africa

Esther Simonis

Skeleton Focus 2021 Linocut Edition of 8 E.V. (The Eco-longing Project) Print exchange

Andie

Kristen McClarty

Kim

Mariette Momberg

Cinthia Sifa Mulanga

Calm floods of thoughts 2021 Collage Edition of 6 (The Eco-longing Project)

Sanmarie Harms

Symbol of Loss 2021 Monotype Edition of 8E.V. (The Daphne Project)

Nicolette Geldenhuys

Amy Jane van den Bergh

Mandy Conidaris

Exhibition co-curated by Allison Klein, Cloudia Rivett-Carnac and Mandy Conidaris

2021 TPG admin team

Catalogue creation & copywriting by Mandy Conidaris

watch this space for future TPG projects!