LONDON.- Richard Hamilton was one of the most influential artists of the twentieth century, for whom printmaking was essential to his practice. In February, the
Alan Cristea Gallery will present a major survey of Hamiltons original prints to coincide with the fourth exhibition of his work at Tate, this time a major retrospective at Tate Modern (13 February 26 May 2014) alongside an ancillary exhibition at the Institute of Contemporary Arts (12 February 6 April 2014).
Alan Cristea first met Richard Hamilton in 1974 and went on to work closely with the artist for over thirty years. This exhibition explores the themes of protest, portraits, interiors and landscapes, incorporating different versions of the same images and themes, to provide an unparalleled insight into Hamiltons creative process and his breadth of visual experimentation.
Hamiltons first forays into printing began with experiments in screenprinting, as seen in the early work Adonis in Y fronts (1963) on show at the Alan Cristea Gallery. The exhibition will feature a number of Hamiltons most celebrated prints including a 1991 version of his seminal 1956 collage Just what is it that makes today's homes so different, so appealing?. This was the work in which the word Pop first appeared, the term that then lent itself to an international art movement which was defined by Hamilton himself in a now famous letter written in 1957 stating that Pop Art is: popular, transient, expendable, lowcost, mass-produced, young, witty, sexy, gimmicky, glamorous, and Big Business.
Hamilton was an artist who drew directly upon the social changes he was witnessing, whether reflecting on the rise of a consumer culture or on the mediation of political events. The artists Swingeing London 67 series of prints and paintings served as Hamiltons response to the arrest of his friend and art dealer Robert Fraser, along with Rolling Stones singer Mick Jagger, during the notorious Redlands police raid.The Alan Cristea Gallery will present several prints from the series, displaying Hamiltons propensity for using printmaking as a way to explore multiple manifestations of the same image through varying interpretations.
He also explored classical forms of printmaking, most notably in Picassos meninas (1973), which will feature in the retrospective. The genesis of this work was an invitation from the Propylaen Press to contribute to a print portfolio celebrating Picassos 90th birthday. At Hamiltons insistence, he sought an introduction to master printer Aldo Crommelynck who had collaborated closely with Picasso for more than twenty years and, after 1961, printed all of Picassos etchings. Crommelynck and Hamilton continued to work together extensively over the course of his career. Hamilton has said of the relationship between artists and printers:
Early in my experience of printmaking I came to accept the advantages of working with great craftsmen
Master printers know their workshops, their presses, acids and pigments. The artists responsibility is to labour over his plates or stones
He must be a control freak until that final proof is made. Then it is up to the printer to complete the edition. --Richard Hamilton, Painting by numbers, 2006