GroundZero Printmakers Society

1989-2019 CELEBRATING 30 YEARS OF WEST COAST PRINT CULTURE

"Beyond the Archive" Ground Zero Printmakers 1989 to 2019"
February 29 - April 4, 2020 (Opening Reception, February 29, 3 - 5pm)
Victoria Arts Council, 1800 Store Street

The "Beyond The Archive" exhibition at the Victoria Arts Council Gallery is conceivedin celebration of the 30th anniversary of Ground Zero Printmakers Studio (GZPS).
The exhibition brings together prints from the GZPS archive and newly created ‘response’ prints by current GZPS artists arising from an investigation of the historical work. Using our archived print collection as a point of reference, artists were invited to create new works, a 'dialogue' with their GZPS 'predecessors'. At the heart of this project is the artist's investigation into their deep connection to all other artists and histories.

Since its inception in 1989, GZPS has hosted hundreds of artists and students producing prints as an occasional, project based, or central core element of their creative practice. Print studios have a tradition of collecting works produced in-house, stemming from the capacity of printmaking to produce multiple originals or 'editions'. Over the past 30 years GZPS has collected an extensive and valuable Print Archive.

'Beyond The Archive' provides a powerful opportunity to showcase the rich 30-year history of GZPS and the diversity of creative imagination in contemporary printmaking in the region.

Join Current GZPS members in a 'hands-on' celebration of the hard-won expertise, creative intent, and plain work involved in sustaining an Open Studio for future artist-printmakers. The exhibition will feature a display of GZPS historical artifacts, posters, photos, objects, and tools, from the four different locations of its 30-year history. We invite all to the opening reception, artist's talks, and Q & A demos, and to the neighbouring GZPS studio located in the historic Chinatown district of Victoria.

"We visit museums to see the works of ‘the masters’, we study art history, we read about artists that capture our imagination and we go to galleries because we are curious about historical artwork and that of our contemporaries." from M. Mottishaw, GZPS Member 2019

"...Everyone works collaboratively. That is why society exists."
from Painting by Numbers, Vitaly Komar and Alexander Melamid

GZPS is a print shop with Open Studio facilities for producing hand-pulled original prints.

Victoria Edgarr,Jan 2020 Director GZPS