On holiday in Devon last week I saw a wonderful exhibition of Howard Hodgkin Prints that really blew me away. It was at the Burton Art Gallery in Bideford, which I’ve previously visited, and have always seen some great stuff. Despite it’s sleepy location it exhibits some really contemporary work. It has a terrific craft gallery too, where you can pick up pieces by top ceramicists like the mighty Sven Baeur, who’s studio is based in Devon, relatively cheaply. 
The Hodgkin exhibition was a real surprise and incredibly exciting. I’m more familiar with the paintings, but these prints were a revelation in their variety and sheer formal and technical inventiveness. The scale of the pieces was really impressive too, with some over six feet wide. It was just a great experience being in the room with all this colour and light. It felt really joyful.
In the shop later I also browsed through a book on popular printmaker, Angie Lewin, whose relief woodcut prints (above) seems to be everywhere these days. I really like the strong, bold graphic use of line and pattern in her work, and it made me think I should do more in print with some of my own paintings of wild flowers.
It was Keith Arnatt’s text pieces in the last blog, Angie Lewin’s prints in this one. One day I may find the time to follow some of these things through…. 
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