Not all prints are created equal

Figures on a Wharf, etching, 11" x 14", 37/50, Steven Rhude

February 14 - March 13

Harvest Gallery in Wolfville, Nova Scotia is pleased to present "PRESS" our 8th annual exhibition showcasing the work of select Nova Scotia Printmakers. You are invited to explore new work from a small but distinguished group including Bonnie Baker; Alex Colville; Cecil Day; Bob Hainstock; Kristiina Lehtonen; John Neville; Steven Rhude; Kath Kornelsen Rutherford; Robert Rutherford, and Anna Syperek. The show opens February 14th and runs until March 13th, 2014.

In the world of art not all prints are created equal. Both advances in technology and 'creative' marketing practices have led to confusion around what distinguishes an original print from a reproduction.
An Original Print is an image that has been conceived and executed solely as a print, usually in a numbered edition. Each print in the edition is an original, signed by the artist, and printed from a plate, stone, screen, block or other matrix created for that purpose. There is no one original print from which copies are made. Each print is inked and pulled individually; it is a multi-original medium. The artist decides the number of prints in an edition, and each print is given a specific number (for example, a print numbered 12/25 is the 12th print in an edition of 25).
A Reproduction, although often called a print, is actually quite different. It is a copy of a work of art conceived by the artist in another medium - an oil painting or watercolour for example. The reproduction is made by photomechanical means. Numbering and signing a reproduction does not change its essence; it is still a reproduction of a painting and not an original print.
The hand-made prints in this show sample a variety of printmaking methods including Etching - with Aquatint (creeping bite, litho crayon resist, white ground and top rolled spit-bite) techniques; multi-plate etching with Aquatint; Mezzotint; Linocut; Rust Collagraphy and, Serigraphy (or Silkscreen).

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