Ellipsis Prints… A Platform for Equality
Shoreditch Arts Club is excited to house a collection of limited edition prints by Ellipsis Prints, an art initiative which addresses gender inequality in the contemporary art world by commissioning new prints from women and non-binary artists in the UK.
The twelve vibrant artworks in our reception lounge are created by some of the most exciting up and coming talent currently working in the UK art scene. The works, uniquely created in a limited run of 100 are produced, exhibited and sold by the initiative to support the artists’ career development. Their vivid colours and distinctive charm coupled with the important mission of Ellipsis Prints grant them recognition and demand from international collectors.
Ellipsis Prints billboard exhibition iii, London
Ahead of our exclusive preview event on December 14th to launch their latest print release, we were honoured to interview Kate Neave, founder and curator of Ellipsis Prints, to learn more about the initiative and why it’s important to support underrepresented artists.
Kate, thank you for taking the time! To start, would you mind telling us a bit about yourself and Ellipsis Prints, including how this project came to be?
I launched Ellipsis Prints as a way to take positive action to bring attention, encouragement and financial support to women and non-binary artists. As an art writer, curator and creative producer with a longstanding commitment to supporting the work of underrepresented artists, I am surprised and saddened by the inequalities which perpetuate in the contemporary art world. Women and non-binary artists are marginalised by the mainstream and opportunities are increasing at a painfully slow rate. I wanted to work on an initiative that could contribute to making a difference. Through the project I fund women and non-binary artists to train in printmaking, I fund production of the prints and I exhibit and sell them to support their careers. The initiative also aims to increase the number of works by women and non-binary artists in art collections internationally.
The uniqueness of each individual print, despite all of them being made using Risograph, is a testament to the range of artists you support through these commissions. Could you tell us more about the printmaking method and introduce us to some of the artists you’ve worked with?
All of the limited edition prints are Risoprints produced on a vintage Japanese printing machine called a Risograph machine, using an environmentally-friendly printmaking technique. The print machine originated in Japan in the 1980s and although it was originally intended for commercial use, it has increasingly been adopted by artists and creative bookmakers who, like me, fell in love with its vibrant colours, flexibility and style. Since it’s so adaptable and quick to create prints, it has allowed me to work with a huge range of different artists who often work in mediums completely unrelated to printmaking. I’ve been lucky enough to work with artists who focus on ceramics such as Phoebe Collings-James, artists who often work with textiles such as Bea Bonafini and even performance artists such as Xie Rong. I love seeing the creative approaches they have to making their prints.
Without giving too much away before the exclusive preview on December 14th, would you be able to walk us through the upcoming print collection – whose works can we expect to see and support?
I’m very much looking forward to releasing our third collection of prints and delighted that Shoreditch Arts Club members will get a preview. We have had seven artists working in the print studio this month. All of them are really exciting up and coming names to watch with diverse practices that I know will translate really well on the Riso. They include artist Holly Stevenson, who was recently commissioned by Frieze Sculpture to create a public sculpture in Regent’s Park in connection with the art fair. She is creating a print which expands on the themes of her large-scale ceramic work. Look out for the print by painter Harriet Gillett who was selected for New Contemporaries this year and whose rich, seductive transparent layers will look stunning in Risoprint. I can’t wait to see what artist enorê does in the studio since they normally work with 3D printed ceramics and definitely look out for the print by our first photographer in the studio, Yulia Lebedeva.
Finally, looking back on your journey so far, what are some fulfilling achievements to have come out of this initiative, and what does the road ahead look like?
Since I founded Ellipsis Prints in 2019, I’ve had the pleasure of commissioning prints from twenty eight different women and non-binary artists and have released over forty different designs. We’ve exhibited the prints in conventional gallery spaces and also shown them on billboards across London. I’ve run an awareness campaign in collaboration with Art Girl Rising and Repaint History through which we launched a postcard campaign to challenge art spaces to increase the number of women and non-binary artists they exhibit, represent and collect. The prints themselves are held in some notable private and public collections, giving them the deserved visibility and recognition that the initiative aims to provide.
In terms of gender inequality in the art world, there is still a long way to go. Commercial galleries represent far fewer women and non-binary artists and museum collections remain completely imbalanced. Structural inequalities persist and we battle with unconscious bias. Until there is gender equality, I believe women and non-binary focussed projects are necessary to provoke change. I will continue to play my own part in making a difference.
