The Parallel Prints project presents the same exhibition simultaneously in New Zealand, at Art at Wharepuke, and at a gallery in another part of the world.
The original concept, in 2013, included invited artists from the UK and New Zealand.
Using the uniqueness of the reproducible print allows for the same works to be viewed at the same time on opposite sides of the world. This highlights the democratic nature of printmaking and questions the aura of the unique. Which venue is showing the ‘real’ work? Which the reproduction?
Curated and coordinated by Mark Graver and Tania Booth in NZ, Parallel Prints NZ- UK featured the work of 12 diverse artists presented in a portfolio set.
Each artist contributed one work on 300 x 300 mm paper in an edition of 36 and the writer and critic Richard Noyce supplied an introductory essay. There are 24 portfolio sets, one for each artist and 12 for donation to international collections.
Exhibitions
The first Parallel Prints simultaneous exhibition was held at Art at Wharepuke, Kerikeri, NZ from July 15th – Sep 22nd 2013 and at Ian Rastrick Fine Art, St.Albans, UK from Aug 9th – 16th. 2013.
In the UK venue a QR code linked to a video recording of the Wharepuke exhibition allowing the audience to encounter both exhibitions at once.
The portfolio was presented to the Impact 8 international printmaking conference in Dundee on August 31st.
The folio was also exhibited in the following exhibitions:
2013 – Parallel Prints – Galerie Apart, Le Bourg, Marcilhac -sur- Cele, France
2014 – Angel-Sachsen Treffen Sachsen – Galerie Malva, Saxony, Germany
2014 – Two Cities – Jinling Museum of Art, Nanjing, China
Collections
Part of the concept behind the project was to donate 12 of the portfolio sets to international collections. So far the following institutions have accepted a portfolio:
The Victoria &Albert Museum, London, UK
The Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, UK
Jinling Museum of Art, Nanjing, China
The Whangarei Art Museum, NZ
The Kent Print Collection, Kent University, UK
Ian Rastrick Fine Art, St. Albans, UK
Representing the broad diversity of current printmaking process and practice the artists involved are:
Anne Desmet, Chris Pig, David Ferry, Duncan Bullen, Gill Golding, Mark Graver, Jo Love
Margaret Ashman, Sandy Sykes, Stephen Mumberson, Timo Lehtonen, Weimin He.
Future Projects
It is envisaged that similar collaborative projects will be arranged in other countries.
Parallel Prints NZ – Australia 2015
The second Parallel Prints project took place in October 2015. 11 Australian artists were invited to contribute to the portfolio that was shown at Art at Wharepuke, New Zealand and the Art Gallery of Ballarat, Victoria, Australia. The works from the first NZ-UK 2013 portfolio were also shown alongside the Australian ones to give the exhibition historical context.
The Australian artists showing alongside Mark Graver are :
James Pasakos
Bruno Leti
Martin King
David Frazer
John Neeson
Antoinette Covino-Beehre
Deborah Klein
Deborah Williams
Melissa Smith
Jodi Heffernan
Susanna Castleden
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