International print exhibition

Connections North, Witch Posts and Jet Woodblock Printing

Connections North: Mirror Images

The Inspired by... gallery is delighted to be a partner in an innovative and ambitious international print-making exhibition and activity programme involving three identical ‘mirror’ exhibitions, opening simultaneously in North Yorkshire, Finland and Sweden.

Connections North: Mirror Images is a collaboration between Chrysalis Arts, Inspired by... gallery, Ratamo Printmaking and Photography Centre, Jyväskylä, Finland; Ålgården Printmaking Centre, Borås, Sweden; and Highland Print Studio, Inverness, Scotland. Presenting new work by printmakers from four countries, the exhibition will also tour to additional venues in North Yorkshire, Cumbria and Scotland.

The exhibition offers the chance to see new and original contemporary printmaking by forty artists, including ten artists from York and North Yorkshire, shown together for the first time and embracing a diverse range of styles and approaches. The exhibition aims to offer a reflection on contemporary printmaking from an international perspective, drawing upon ideas of place, identity and the environments in which the artists live and work.

The programme includes:

A series of identical ‘mirror’ exhibitions presenting new work by printmakers from each participating area and opening simultaneously at venues in North Yorkshire, Finland, and Sweden. The launch of the exhibition is planned as a collaborative event, shared via digital platforms.
Workshops, activities and demonstrations at art and printmaking venues across North Yorkshire designed to involve schools and local communities, including a series of special events in our gallery.
Talks, masterclasses and demonstrations from project partners, artists or print workshops at the forefront of contemporary practice.
A residency in the North York Moors National Park by Jenny McLaren from the Highlands of Scotland, one of our partner areas. An accompanying exhibition of her work, 28 Days of Looking, will run alongside the main exhibition in the Inspired by... gallery from 9 May - 15 June.
North Yorkshire Open Studios (6-7 and 13-14 June) will include York and North Yorkshire printmakers opening up their own studios to the public.
An additional programme of linked print-related exhibitions.

Connections North on tour

The exhibition has now finished at the Inspired by... gallery but you can catch it on tour:

Brewery Arts Centre, Kendal, Cumbria (20 June – 17 July)
Dales Countryside Museum, Hawes, North Yorkshire (24 July – 7 October)
Caithness Horizons, Thurso, Scotland (16 October – 28 November)

Artists selected for Connections North: Mirror Images

The North Yorkshire artists selected to take part in the exhibition are:

The Highland artists selected to take part in the exhibition are:

The Finnish artists selected to take part in the exhibition are:

The Swedish artists selected to take part in the exhibition are:

Chrysalis Arts has also collaborated with a Working Group of North Yorkshire-based printmakers: Barbara Green, Laney Birkhead, Hester Cox, Moira Mctague and Andrew Dalton, who have advised on many aspects of the programme.

The exhibition is kindly supported by Arts Council England and Scarborough Borough Council.