Although primarily a painter Martyn Brewster has been a prolific printmaker for over 50 years. This exhibition showcases his prowess with colour, particularly in his distinctive work with silkscreen monoprints.
Following on from his degree in Painting from Brighton Art College (1974), Martyn gained a distinction in his MA in Printmaking the following year. He subsequently taught printmaking at Winchester School of Art and the Arts University at Bournemouth.
After moving to Bournemouth in 1990, Martyn set up a painting studio and developed a printmaking studio with facilities for silkscreen, etching and relief printing. Since 2019 he has worked with master printer Andrew Smith to produce large-scale, multi-plate etching and carborundum prints. Smith is well known for his work with Howard Hodgkin and Gillian Ayres among others.
Although Martyn has produced many editions of prints his main interest has always been in the experimental exploration of printmaking rather than its ability to reproduce a given image. Consequently, he has made many monoprints to explore the creative possibilities of printmaking, frequently combining different techniques. Colour has often been the driving force in his work together with a movement towards abstraction.
For the present exhibition Colour Poems, we have selected outstanding prints that demonstrate Martyn’s renowned virtuosity with colour. For viewers familiar with Martyn’s painting, these works will resonate with the same vibrancy and presence, reflecting his longstanding commitment to printmaking as an important discipline and form.
Publications on Martyn’s work include the monograph Martyn Brewster written by Simon Olding with a foreword by Mel Gooding (Scolar Press, 1997) and Martyn Brewster: Prints 1975–2007 by Vivienne Light and Simon Olding (Canterton Books, 2008). The phrase ‘colour poems’ is taken from Olding’s essay in the 2008 book.
In 2022 Martyn was elected an Associate of the RE, The Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers, based at the Bankside Gallery in London. He is represented by the Portland Gallery in London and by Waterhouse & Dodd in New York.
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