David Shrigley, Tracey Emin, The Connor Brothers and Harland Miller are among the celebrated artists with works for sale at this year’s Woolwich Contemporary Print Fair. Now in its seventh year, the Fair runs over four days at Woolwich Works, welcoming 500 artists and 1,000 original artworks. There’s also an online equivalent, open until November 20, for those who can’t make it or who want to take a second look. The Fair is run by husband and wife duo Jack Bullen and Lizzie Glendinning, an artist and curator respectively, and is proudly the UK’s largest fair devoted entirely to contemporary prints.
The South Londoner speaks to co-founder Jack Bullen to find out more…
Exhibition Preview Evening at Woolwich Works
Holly O’Mahony: What can visitors expect from the seventh annual Woolwich Contemporary Print Fair? What’s new for this year’s event?
Jack Bullen: More galleries, new international artists, more famous names. Bonhams Auction House will have a prints showroom on site for an upcoming auction; Mirabeau are back with their delicious rosé as well as their own space to showcase the artists they are supporting within the Fair. We have family activities on Saturday and Sunday, and new releases from David Shrigley, Grayson Perry and many more.
HOM: You’ve got some big names selling prints at this year’s festival. Can you give us a hint of what they’ll be showing?
JB: I couldn’t possibly. But I can say it’s very pertinent! Jealous Gallery generously launches a Shrigley at the Fair each year. Look out for it on Thursday morning. We’ll be using a tier pricing system, where works are launched at a lower price point, then once they sell, the next price is released and so on. Tracey Emin is coming through Bonhams auctioneers as one of an exceptional line up for their upcoming auction. Beyond these big names, though, there are pieces for all tastes and budgets.
HOM: Is it really for all budgets though? Original art is notoriously expensive…
JB: Works start at £100, which is very reasonable by industry standards. We also operate an ‘Own Art’ payment scheme, part of a national initiative that makes buying contemporary art and craft affordable by providing interest-free credit for the purchase of original work.
HOM: There’s also an events programme as part of the Fair, including workshops and demonstrations. What can visitors expect from these?
JB: We’re running panel discussions and daily printing press takeovers for visiting studios on both the etching and screen printing presses. These will be a mix of demonstrations and workshops giving visitors the chance to have a go themselves. Incidentally, one of our exhibitors was first introduced to printmaking via one of these workshops back in 2017, so hopefully this will inspire others to take up a squeegee. Exhibiting galleries are also hosting their own events including signings and woodblock demonstrations. We’re also running children’s workshops on the weekend.
Exhibition Preview Evening at Woolwich Works
HOM: You created the virtual Fair in 2020 when the pandemic meant you couldn’t run it in person. It was such a success that you launched it again for 2021. What can virtual visitors expect from the online offering this year?
JB: We have our online viewing rooms with online art marketplace Artsy and are bringing back our interactive ‘walk-through’ exhibition which reflects how the work is hung at the physical event. It means people from all over the globe can be part of our event, join our online programme, and get a taste of the scale of the works. We had over 250,000 visitors to our online edition last year – fingers crossed we’ll see similar numbers again.
Woolwich Contemporary Print Fair is on at Woolwich Works, 11 No 1 Street, Royal Arsenal, London SE18 6HD.
Physical fair runs from November 3 – 6, 12pm, 2pm & 4pm. Online fair November 3 – 20.
Admission: £10.50/£8.50 concessions.
www.woolwich.works/events/woolwich-contemporary-print-fair-edition-7
