Print, Music and Movement

8th July- 19th August 2023

West Yorkshire Print Workshop has co-ordinated and curated a new exhibition looking at music, dance, movement and sound through the lens of printmaking.

As part of the Yorkshire region’s plans for a Year of Culture in 2023, Kirklees has designated it as a Year of Music for the district. 2023 celebrates the richness and diversity of the area’s music heritage, the music created and performed today, and ambitions for the future, inclusive of all genres, all communities and in all forms. West Yorkshire Print Workshop has co-ordinated and curated a new exhibition looking at music, dance, movement and sound through the lens of printmaking. The exhibition includes a glimpse into how contemporary printmakers support the promotion of gigs, festivals and band through the art of handmade posters and prints and also looks at artists response to music and movement and artists who strive to create works which become like music: ever shifting, shrinking and expanding.  

The six artists on show: Graham Pilling, Kai West, Vanessa Oo, Nick Loaring, Cameron Steward and David Armes, all based in Yorkshire and are contemporary printmakers who work in a variety of processes including screenprint, monoprint and letterpress printmaking. Including poster prints created and handprinted by Graham Pilling (otherwise known as Army of Cats) commissioned by the Arctic Monkeys for the first two nights of their 2022 tour, taking place in Istanbul to letterpress prints from HITS! The Printmaker’s Top 10 which is an international print series initiated by artist Annegret Frauenlob where every year, ten printmakers are invited to choose a favourite lyric or song and create a 7″ square (folded or unfolded) print for a box-set.  

The exhibition is in West Yorkshire Print Workshop’s pop up ‘Print Haus’ in the Piazza Centre in Huddersfield. This space is part of the ‘Temporary Contemporary’ initiative to utilise old shop buildings as creative spaces on the high street before demolition and regeneration as part of the Cultural Heart plans in Huddersfield. Director, Clare Alton-Fletcher says, “We are thrilled to have such exciting contemporary printmakers on show on the high street in Huddersfield. Their work is vibrant, colourful and inspiring and we are excited to also be running a series of printmaking workshops in the space alongside the exhibition.” 

The printmaking activities in the space include dry point printmaking using vinyls and CDs, letterpress printing band names and lyrics with Adana presses and producing screen printed music posters. Please see the WYPW website for more details.  

For more information, contact: 

Sofia Sarwar, Marketing and Retail Officer on sofia@wypw.org or Director, Clare Alton-Fletcher on clare@wypw.org 

Press photos and interviews are available on the 8th July between 1-2pm with the Director.  

West Yorkshire Print Workshop is an arts charity focused on printmaking and is an Arts Council funded National Portfolio Organisation. WYPW started in 1984 and is one of the oldest open access printmaking workshops in the country.  

Location: Print Haus by West Yorkshire Print Workshop, Unit 2, Piazza Centre, Princess Alexandra Walk, Huddersfield, HD1 2RS

Opening times:
Sat 8^th July – 19^th August (every Thursday and every other Saturday) 11-3:30pm

FREE ENTRY