Making a Mark

To celebrate the gallery’s thirtieth anniversary, we meet Alan Cristea and David Cleaton-Roberts for a special episode of the podcast series Making a Mark.  Alan and David have spent the past three decades working with an exceptional roster of artists who have continued to shape the gallery since its establishment. Learn how the gallery was founded in 1995 and how, through an innovative artist led programme, it exists today as one of the world’s leading art galleries and print publishers specialising in original prints and works on paper. Michael Craig-Martin, who worked with Alan in the years prior to the gallery opening, describes his experiences of making works and exhibiting with the team over the past three decades. Fellow print dealer Joni Moisant Weyl, founder of Gemini G.E.L. at Joni Moisant Weyl in New York, who represents Gemini G.E.L., one of the leading print publishers in the US, also shares her memories of the gallery, alongside Sir Nicholas Serota, former director of  Tate and current chairman of Arts Council England, who describes the gallery’s unparalleled output in London and beyond.  Discover what has been driving Alan and David and their team for all these years, and what is next in store for the gallery. Presented by writer and critic, Charlotte Mullins. Photo: David Cleaton-Roberts, Kathleen Dempsey, Alan Cristea at the London Original Print Fair, 1998 © Cristea Roberts Gallery, London #makingamark #talkart #artpodcast ##galleryowner #printpublisher #printdealer #printgallery #artbusiness #printmaking #contemporaryprintmaking #nicholasserota #geminigel #michaelcraigmartin

This episode of Making a Mark focusses on a previously unexplored element of artist Idris Khan’s (b. 1978) practice; his developments in printmaking, a medium that now sits alongside his photography, installation and painting. We meet Khan in his London studio where, amongst his works in progress and shelves of hundreds of letter stamps, he is finishing his newest series of prints, After the reflection, 2025. Khan discusses music, colour harmony and the abstract qualities of language that inform his work, including the recent use of advanced software to create editions layered with bands of colour, musical scores and text. Contributors include writer Craig Burnett; senior director David Cleaton-Roberts; and writer and curator, Hammad Nasar. Presented by writer and critic, Charlotte Mullins. Making a Mark is a podcast by Cristea Roberts Gallery exploring exploring artists' approach to drawing and printmaking. Artworks discussed in the episode can be viewed online via https://cristearoberts.com/podcast/  Photo: Stephen White & Co #IdrisKhan #printmaking #silkscreen #screenprint #worksonpaper #workonpaper #monet #vivaldi #degas #oldmasters #repetition #makingamark #talkart #artpodcast #artiststudio

The tenth episode of Making a Mark explores Jim Dine’s (b. 1935) lifelong relationship with hand-tools. Tools have been a constant for the artist, not only as implements used to mark his plates and blocks, but also as ‘objects of desire,’ appearing as subject matter in his art for over six decades.    We meet Jim Dine in his studio in Paris, where he discusses the first print he ever made aged 17 years old in his grandfather’s basement using a piece of wood and chisel. From tracing his early interactions with tools, to introducing new monumental woodcut prints depicting hammers, Dine also talks about the various printers he has worked with including the late Aldo Crommelynck and Kurt Zein.   Contributors include master printer Julia D’Amario, an etching printer who has worked with Dine since the 1990s, and gallery founder and co-director Alan Cristea, who describes the works and ideas of an artist that he first met 45 years ago and whose achievements in printmaking remain unparalleled today.  Presented by writer and critic, Charlotte Mullins. Artworks discussed in the episode can be viewed online via https://cristearoberts.com/podcast/ Photo: Daniel Clarke  #jimdine #americanartist #handtools #printmaking #worksonpaper #workonpaper #painting #drawing #woodcutprint #artiststudio #printstudio #makingamark #talkart #artpodcast 

This episode of Making a Mark explores works on paper by Ian Davenport (b.1966), one of Britain’s foremost contemporary artists whose practice delves into the realms of colour, process and materiality.  We meet Davenport, well known for his abstract paintings, in his studio in South London to find out more about what inspires him, from art history to contemporary music, and how he creates his works on paper and prints, some measuring over three metres in length and made up of as many as forty different colours. Discover Davenport’s artistic evolution as one of the generation of Young British Artists, whose work is now collected worldwide. Set to a soundtrack featuring the artist’s drumming, we also hear from curator and writer Jonathan Watkins who staged Davenport’s first institutional show in the UK in 2004. Gallery co-director David Cleaton-Roberts, who has worked with Davenport for over twenty years, describes the complex printing techniques the artist employs to create mesmerising colour arrangements. Presented by writer and critic, Charlotte Mullins. Making a Mark is a podcast by Cristea Roberts Gallery exploring the relationship between artists and printmaking.⁠ Artworks discussed in the episode can be viewed online via https://cristearoberts.com/podcast/ Photo: Ian Davenport Studio #iandavenport #printmaking #silkscreen #screenprint #worksonpaper #workonpaper #painting #drawing #interactionofcolor #josefalbers #yba #turnerprize #makingamark #talkart #artpodcast #artiststudio

This episode of Making a Mark explores the work of Clare Woods (b. 1972), the connections between the artist's life and ever evolving practice, which has expanded from painting to prints and collage. We meet Woods in her vast studio where she has recently installed a printing press. Woods discusses the physicality of her practice; the tension, trauma and conflict that runs through her work; and how she comes up with her intriguing artwork titles.  Contributors include founder and gallery co-director, Alan Cristea; writer and former Frieze magazine editor, Jennifer Higgie, who has written about Woods; and Simon Wallis, Director of the Hepworth Wakefield, who first exhibited Woods' work in a solo show in 2011. Presented by writer and critic, Charlotte Mullins. This podcast episode coincides with the exhibition Clare Woods: Soft Knock at Cristea Roberts Gallery (8 March – 20 April 2024).  Making a Mark, a podcast series exploring artist's approach to drawing and printmaking. Artworks discussed in the episode can be viewed online via https://cristearoberts.com/podcast/ Photo: © RA / Anne Purkiss #clarewoods #printstudio #artiststudio #printmaking #collage #worksonpaper #workonpaper #painting  #britishart #britishartists #stilllife #stillife

This episode of Making a Mark explores the printmaking practice of Yinka Shonibare (b. 1962), a globally celebrated artist whose work examines race, class, and constructions of cultural identity. We meet Shonibare in his busy East London studio, surrounded by his prints and rolls upon rolls of Batik fabric, a symbolic and distinct feature of the artist’s work. Listen in as Shonibare explains why this fabric has become a recurrent motif for everything he wants to say about identity, politics, colonialism, and postcolonialism. Shonibare discusses how in recent years he has returned to two-dimensional work in the form of printmaking. Find out about the complex way he makes his woodblock prints and about his subject matter, including how the election of Donald Trump informed his first ever print project with Cristea Roberts Gallery and how the imagery of a large-scale print made in response to the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020, was born from a rejected commission, deemed too controversial. We also find out why in his recent prints, Shonibare has chosen to illustrate the radical influence of African artefacts on the work of western modernists, from Picasso, Derain, Modigliani, Matisse to Man Ray and his fellow artists in the Dada and Surrealist movements. Contributors include gallery director, David Cleaton-Roberts and curator, writer and broadcaster Ekow Eshun. Presented by writer and critic, Charlotte Mullins. Click here to purchase a book featuring an interview between Yinka Shonibare CBE and Charlotte Mullins. Making a Mark is a podcast by Cristea Roberts Gallery exploring the relationship between artists and printmaking.⁠ Artworks discussed in the episode can be viewed online via https://cristearoberts.com/podcast/ Photo: Leon Foggitt #yinkashonibare #ekoweshun #printmaking #printstudio #artiststudio #woodblock #africanmodernism #africanart #donaldtrump #blm #blmmovement #britishempire #colonialism #culturalidentity

The sixth episode of Making a Mark explores the life and work of one of Britain’s most important artists, Joe Tilson (1928 - 2023), and the importance of printmaking to his practice throughout his life.  As a lifelong dedicated and subversive printmaker, we meet Tilson in his London studio on the eve of his 94th birthday, to discuss the preoccupations, inspirations, philosophy, and methods, that have been the focus of his graphic works for over half a century.  From prints made in the 1960s by Tilson, then an exponent of British Pop Art, to new hand-coloured editions, inspired by cultural history, we explore how Tilson continues to defy and challenge the rule book of printmaking.     Contributors include gallery founder and director Alan Cristea, who has worked with Tilson since 1969; interior designer, founder and creative director of Firmdale Hotels, Kit Kemp, who collects Tilson’s prints and art historian, writer and curator Marco Livingstone, who has authored a new biography about Tilson.   Presented by writer and critic, Charlotte Mullins, this episode was recorded in August 2022.   Making a Mark is a podcast by Cristea Roberts Gallery exploring the relationship between artists and printmaking.⁠ Artworks discussed in the episode can be viewed online via https://cristearoberts.com/podcast/   #joetilson #printmaking #silkscreen #screenprint #worksonpaper #workonpaper #painting #popart #britishpopart #britishart #britishartists #modernbritishart #contemporaryart

The fifth episode of Making a Mark explores the graphic work of Michael Craig-Martin (b. 1941), one of the best-known artists of his generation. Today his brightly coloured works of everyday objects, from mass-produced consumer goods to fruit and flowers, are easily identified by viewers the world over.   We meet Craig-Martin in his home to discuss his iconic work. He speaks about his earliest prints, the development of his drawing, the introduction of colour to his work, his choice of subject matter including era-defining representations of once familiar yet obsolete technology, and his newest body of prints which pay homage to some of his favourite artists and artworks from Western art history.   We also hear from art critic Ben Luke; artist Julian Opie, who was Craig-Martin’s student in the 1980s; writer and broadcaster Louisa Buck and founder and gallery co-director, Alan Cristea, who first suggested to Craig-Martin he make prints over 40 years ago.   Presented by writer and critic, Charlotte Mullins. Making a Mark is a podcast by Cristea Roberts Gallery exploring the relationship between artists and printmaking.⁠ Artworks discussed in the episode can be viewed online via https://cristearoberts.com/podcast/ Photo: Caroline True #michaelcraigmartin #printmaking #silkscreen #screenprint #worksonpaper #workonpaper #painting #drawing #everydayobjects #conceptualart #theeveryday #julianopie #josefalbers

The latest episode of Making a Mark explores the graphic work of Cornelia Parker. Widely celebrated for her immersive installations that have become a significant part of Britain’s cultural landscape, this episode explores the artist’s printmaking, a medium that has been at the forefront of her practice for the past several years. Follow Parker and master printer Pete Kosowicz into the studio where they are making prints; find out how her works are made, her influences, the possibilities printmaking offers and the importance of collaboration to Parker’s practice. Contributors include founder and gallery co-director, Alan Cristea; arts editor of the Financial Times, Jan Dalley; and photography curator and writer David Campany. Presented by writer and critic, Charlotte Mullins. Making a Mark is a podcast by Cristea Roberts Gallery exploring the relationship between artists and printmaking.⁠ Artworks discussed in the episode can be viewed online via https://cristearoberts.com/podcast/  Image: Cornelia Parker at Thumbprint Editions, London, 2022. Photo: Maxwell Anderson. #corneliaparker #printmaking #etching #photography #photogravure #resurrection #destruction #shadows #foundobjects #womanartist #womeninart #britishart 

The latest episode of Making a Mark explores the work of Christiane Baumgartner (b. 1967), a ground-breaking artist who has achieved international critical acclaim for her printmaking, choosing to adopt the earliest form of the medium, the woodcut, as her primary means of expression. Curator and director at Cristea Roberts Gallery, Helen Waters, talks to Baumgartner about her formative years spent living in East Germany under communism and how this informed and shaped her work, as well as her choice of medium and subject matter, from her earliest woodcuts, many of which are now housed in major museum collections, through to her latest editions, which are the subject of a new exhibition at Cristea Roberts Gallery.   We also hear from Jonathan Watkins, director of Ikon Gallery, Birmingham, who gave Baumgartner her first solo show in the UK and commissioned her to make Stairway to Heaven, 2019, her largest work to date, Christian Rümelin, an early supporter of Baumgartner’s work and Keeper of Prints and Drawings at the Musée d’art et d’histoire in Geneva, and Gillian Forrester, independent curator and scholar, who has written about Baumgartner’s work. She is the former Curator of Prints & Drawings at Yale Center for British Art in the US. Making a Mark is a new podcast by Cristea Roberts Gallery exploring the relationship between artists and printmaking.⁠ Artworks discussed in the episode can be viewed online via https://cristearoberts.com/podcast/ Image: Christiane Buamgartner in her studio in Leipzig, Germany, 2021. Photo: Werner Lieberknecht #christianebaumgartner #womanartist #womeninart #germanart #germanartist #eastgermany #printmaking #woodcut #woodcutting #prints #light #landscapes #seascapes #artiststudio #surveillance