The Printmaking Center of New Jersey, Autumn Print Exchange

I've just mailed an edition of 12 lino-cuts off to The Printmaking Center of New Jersey for their 'Autumn Print Exchange'. Hand pulled printmaking techniques must be used, woodcuts, litho, intaglio, photography, lino, silkscreen etc. The Printmaking Council of New Jersey (PCNJ) is a non-profit fine arts center specializing in print and paper media.

Printmaking Center of New Jersey
http://www.printnj.org
440 River Road
Branchburg, NJ 08876
USA

Theme of exhibition: Sea-change: a poetic term referencing a gradual transformation in which the form is retained but the substance is replaced, as with petrification. PCNJ invites participants to address the visual interpretation of this theme as "see"-change. The prints will be exhibited in the PCNJ gallery space between November 24 - December 24, 2010

This lino cut started life as a print that was to pastiché the paper bags that British chip shops wrap fish n’ chips in. The print originally appeared in red and yellow in limited edition, printed on to food quality paper bags - it served as the packaging for the artist’s book within and also the title of the work.

I have been wanted to focus on my printmaking and this exhibition at the PCNJ seemed really positive. This print is about the British tradition of battering and frying fish, but with no consideration of how fish stocks have fallen and now even seemingly common species are being added to the Red List. The final print, 2 colour lino cut (orange and black) hand printed with a Japanese baren on Japanese archival paper. Limited edition of 12 prints numbered, signed, embossed with artist's logo and dated 2 November 2010.

Birmingham Zine Festival - 10th-12th September

Held over the 10th-12th September, the first Birmingham Zine Festival was a great success, bringing together a host of self-publishing, handmade zines and comics. To accompany the exhibition there was also an exhibition of artwork and a postcard project. I participated in the Mail-Art Postcard Project and Exhibition, which saw over 200 invited entries from the UK, USA, Brazil, Finland, France, Germany and Spain. 

This was my postcard. 

More pictures and interviews can be viewed here on the Birmingham Zine Festival website:

http://www.birminghamzinefestival.com/

Future Fantasteek! No.8 Deepwater Horizon Issue

Future Fantasteek! No.9 Deepwater Horizon Issue is now available in an edition of 50.
To view the zine follow this link:
http://www.dampflat.com/DAMPFLAT/books/zines/future9/index.htm

The first copies hot-off-the-press are on their way to various libraries and collections, but later issues are for sale from me, or in the Bookarts Bookshop, 17 Pitfield Street, London.
http://www.bookartbookshop.com/

What’s happened recently then?.... The Damp Research team have studiously tackled the issues that we all think about - such as do you waste more time on Facebook or Twitter, and what’s the point of it all when your closest friends are only ‘virtual’ and can’t even buy you a beer and crisps?

British Library to archive this Blog

The British Library invited this Damp Flat Blog to participate in their web archiving programme. They select and archive sites to represent aspects of UK documentary heritage and as a result, they will remain available to researchers in the future. The British Library works closely with leading UK institutions to collect and permanently preserve the UK web, and their archive can be seen at www.webarchive.org.uk.

Surely Not! Goes to Wales.

Surely Not! has just been purchased by Howard Gardens Library, University of Wales Institute, Cardiff, South Wales as part of their Artists' Books Collection.

To see Surely Not! follow the link here...

Royal Academy Summer Exhibition SHOP

This year, the Summer Exhibition features artists' books for the first time. There are 19 books on display and you can 'look inside' 10 of these in the image galleries on the RA website.

The Summer Exhibition Shop also wanted to stock some artist's books so they contacted me amongst others and selected some further titles that could be made available in the Exhibition Shop. For the duration of the Summer Exhibition, they will be stocking copies of; Battered, Anxious Homes, Running a Secret Society No.20, Damp in Ditchwater and the last two copies Mortal Coil.

Here's some images of the great shop display, this year.

Royal Academy Summer Exhibition 14 June-22 August 2010

A little while ago I received a personal invite from the Royal Academy to submit an Artist's Book for their Summer Exhibition 2010. The RA had said that they were looking to raise the profile of artists' books within the summer exhibition and had contacted a select number of established bookmakers working in the UK and offered each of them a free entry for one book.

I submitted Battered, and it was duly accepted for exhibition. I will also be making available a select number of Damp Flat Books for the Summer Exhibition Shop. Titles available will be; Anxious Homes, Running a Secret Society, Damp in Ditchwater, Mortal Coil and of course, Battered. For more on Artist's Books at the Royal Academy this year.

The Show Dates:

Buyer's Day - 10th June

Private Views - 11th June - 13th June
Exhibition open to the public - 14 June-22 August 2010
Royal Academy of Arts, Burlington House, Piccadilly, London W1J 0BD

How Battered is displayed within the exhibition, within the print room No.346

The yellow-covered book appears in the show, red and yellow covers are available in the shop.This year at the show there are a number of Artist's Books in glass cases in the centre of the print room. Some of the books are also available in the Exhibition Shop, I'm selling a number of titles there this year.