Jenny Smith Exhibition:Printmakers Gallery 23rd May -04 July

Exhibition
23 May to 04 July 2009

Jenny Smith, Incise
Galleries 2 & 3

Pushing the
boundaries of printmaking with innovative and exciting results, artist
Jenny Smith leads the field in exploring new approaches to printmaking
in an exhibition of recent laser drawings, prints, artist books and
video.

Throughout the process of making, utilizing new ideas and approaches Smith explores the context of memory and place.

Investigating how the traditional formal elements of drawing can be re
examined using new technologies, Smith has discovered innovative ways
of combining processes, and produces work which hovers in the space
between two and three dimensions. She draws with a variety of media,
including paint, laser cutter, video camera and light.

These delicate yet mysterious works are conceptually rooted in her
interest in Zen, consolidated by a research visit to Japan several
years ago, with a Bursary from the Royal Scottish Academy. Smith
investigates the accidental interruptions that occur in repetitive
processes, the work re visits the formal concerns of modernism from a
contemporary perspective.

Often described as deceptively simple, this work is minimal and pared
down, yet it's subtle surfaces offer unexpected surprises when viewed
in close proximity.

untitled-lines,
a 2 minute video, is a meditation on the
sensual, repetitive process of mechanical cutting, or as the artist
would define it a "time based drawing".

This is the first solo exhibition of Smith's new work in Edinburgh. She
has won a number of awards and has work held in collections nationally
and internationally including acquisitions of recent work by The Tate
and National Galleries of Scotland.

Gallery Talk

Saturday 06 June, 3pm
Jenny
Smith will talk about her recent work, applying new technologies and
techniques to printmaking and the close association between the
physical process of making and the development of conceptual ideas
within her work.
Event is free. Booking is not essential, but advised, please call 0131 557 2479 or email
[email protected]

Katsutoshi Yuasa, Natural Incidents
Galleries 2 & 3

A
meditative exhibition of woodcut prints by award winning artist
Katsutoshi Yuasa, one of Japan's most accomplished and exciting artists
working in Europe today.

These large and incredibly complex, light filled, woodcuts have been
inspired by the abstract forms the artist observes arising from the
natural incidents and phenomena of everyday life, captured using
digital photography.

"When I see the surface of the earth from above, it is a very beautiful
pattern. I use these images as a starting point of my work..."

Dissatisfied by the light limitations of photography, the artist has
created his own transfigured reality, a new dimension filled with light
and beauty, through the process of woodcut essentially cutting away the
darkness, another way of exposing an image without light.

Created by hand, carving an image onto plywood with a traditional
Japanese knife, sometimes taking over a month, these prints are then
amazingly hand printed without a press, displaying patience and a
mastery of this technique that is rare in our age of fast moving
technologies.

Katsutoshi Yuasa was born in Tokyo, Japan and currently lives and works
in Paris, France. He has an MA from the Royal College of Art, London
and has had many solo international exhibitions including the Daiwa
Foundation Japan House, London 2009 and Perlberg Contemporary Art, New
York 2006. His works can be found in many private and public
collections across the world, including amongst many Clifford Chance
LLP and Calyon corporate and investment, UK.

Studio Demonstration

Saturday 06 June, 3pm
Katsutoshi
Yuasa will demonstrate his exceptional hand printing technique of
printing woodcuts without the use of a press. He will demonstrate how
he transfers his images onto wood, carves using a Japanese traditional
knife and prints on paper by hand.
Tickets are £3 each. Places are limited so please book early to avoid disappointment!
To book call T 0131 5572479
or email
[email protected]