21 April – 28 June 2026
Showing at Morrinsville Gallery, Waikato
Printmaking from The Arts House Trust Collection
From lithography to screenprinting, printmaking in the collection demonstrates a wide range of approaches: spanning personal reflection, political commentary, and cultural expression.
Gretchen Albrecht, Pounamu, 2002. Lithograph. Collection of The Arts House Trust.
These works not only highlight the versatility of print as a form but also underscore its capacity to respond to contemporary events and enduring narratives. As forms of practice, it enables artists to engage in processes of repetition, variation, and experimentation. The following examples illustrate how artists within the collection employ printmaking to interrogate social realities, articulate identity, and expand the visual language of their practice.
Marathon Man (2020) by English/New Zealand artist Anthony Davies is a series of 53 stone lithographs (each 13 x 24cm). The title was given as Davies likens art making to a marathon - a lifetime commitment. Here he turns to international events and issues that feature in a long news cycle. Featured in several prints are American race relation flashpoints from 2020, culminating in the tragedy of George Floyd, all sourced from the media. Part of the series are prints produced in monochrome - browns, blues or black. Notable are his experimentations with bright colours printed in diagonal or horizontal bands creating a disruptive effect on the drawn image.
He Tipuna (2012) by Robert Jahnke (Ngāi Taharora, Te Whānau a Iritekura, Te Whānau a Rakairoa o Ngāti Porou) is one of twelve works currently held in the Arts House Trust Collection. This screenprint accompanies a companion work, also titled He Tipuna, in lacquer on burnished stainless steel. Where the stainless-steel work seduces the viewer with its shimmery, almost water-like surface, the print allows the artists’ full intentions to guide the viewer’s focus across the formal elements of the work. This exhibition includes several monotype prints by American/NZ artist John Pusateri. These prints explore the histories of museum cataloguing and dioramas. They highlight how species were extracted from natural ecosystems for study, preservation or display in artificial curiosity cabinets. Pusateri’s prints of catalogued birds, bats, butterflies, moths and insects held in museum collections show the artifice of classification, for encountering natural forms out of their environment.
Together, these works demonstrate how printmaking operates as both a reflective and responsive medium. capable of capturing the complexities of contemporary life while remaining grounded in cultural and historical contexts. Through varied techniques and perspectives, the artists reveal print as a dynamic space for critical engagement, where personal, political, and collective narratives intersect. This exhibition affirms printmaking’s enduring relevance as a powerful tool for storytelling and visual inquiry.