After a brief hiatus over the Winter season, the New England Contemporary Print Gallery is now open again to the public. The gallery has thrown open its doors with a new exhibition entitled Australian Stories, and all are welcome to come and experience the fantastic and unique Australian art works on display.
Gallery owner and artist Lizzie Horne says the opening evening, held on the 9th of September, was a great success.
“The exhibition was opened by Mr Robert Heather, executive director of the Art Gallery Society of the Art Gallery of NSW and former director of NERAM,” she says, “Robert is a long-time champion of printmaking and was responsible for opening up NERAM’s Museum of Printing to printmakers.”
Ms Horne is very proud of what is now the gallery’s tenth exhibition.
“Australian Stories features the work of more than ten artists from around Australia,” she says, “I am thrilled to have three multi-plate etchings by renowned printmaker David Frazer…and that Aussie icon Michael Leunig has created two new engravings for the show.”
When asked to comment on the history of the gallery, Ms Horne’s passion for the art of printmaking has always been at the heart of her decision-making process.
The gallery opened in April 2022 with an exhibition of five locals, including Ms Horne herself.
From here it has grown a strong reputation as being a place that truly venerates the printmaking process in all its forms. Not only does the gallery offer regular printmaking workshops, but it also includes an area that offers information on printmaking.
“You can see some excellent examples of just about all forms of printmaking in the gallery – lino cut, etchings, screen prints, block prints, hand printed fabrics, the list goes on,” says Ms Horne, “I really want to contribute to people’s understanding of the artform.”
During this year’s winter closure, Ms Horne was in Spain attending a printmaking residency, some of the products of which people will be able to view at her upcoming solo exhibition at NERAM next year.
The Australian Stories exhibition will run until the 21st of October.
For more information about the gallery, or Ms Horne’s work, please visit the gallery’s Facebook page or website.
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