I am probably biased, but the Grosvenor School linocut prints exhibition really is a must see. The colourful, bold and iconic images will appeal to all, but particularly to any fan of art deco. The subjects relate to ‘modern’ life as it was at the time but chimes well with the hustle and bustle of city life in the 21st century. A personal favourite is the work of Sybil Andrews, whose work features human figures at work with simplified and dynamic shapes which are so effective that I almost feel I should take a blade to some linoleum and to create something similar myself.
A beauty in the method: I love wood engravings, but for me the linocut offers something special, and the ease with which an artist can cut a tapering curve in lino makes these pieces so vibrant and dynamic in a way that is difficult to achieve with most other print forms. Add to this, the everyman nature of the medium, which in its day, was the first affordable print method, with artists laying pressing their coloured lino onto paper with a back of a spoon to make the colour transfer, and we have a an art form which is warming to behold.
The exhibition is on from 26th to 20th September at St Barbe Museum & Art Gallery in Lymington.
