Printing
The graphic arts first appear in Ar.Co’s training program with the silkscreen studio, directed by António Inverno (with collaborations by Fernando Calhau) between 1973 and 1978. There are already Open Courses in 1973, the same year Fernando Calhau, Eduardo Nery and António Sena produce and exhibit at Ar.Co the first edition of silkscreen multiples produced in the school, together with printed visual poems by Salette Tavares. In 1974 prints coming from London’s Slade School will also be shown at Ar.Co (“Gravuras da Slade School of Art”), in a collaborative effort between both institutions. In 1977, celebrating the school’s 4th anniversary, Ar.Co will show and sell prints that have been offered by their authors to raise funds (Eduardo Nery, Fernando Calhau, Henrique Manuel, António Sena, Salette Tavares and students from the Slade School). More traditional printing processes will only become part of school training in 1978, under João Hogan’s guidance. In 1980 the school exhibits foreign printmakers who had worked in Portugal in the 1960’s (collection of João Hogan) and silkscreen prints made at Oporto’s Cooperativa Árvore. In 1981 Lídia Reynolds will join João Hogan as a Printing teacher and in 1984 Shang Hutter, invited by Ar.Co’s Sculpture sector, exhibits prints and drawings at the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation’s Center for Modern Art. Noriko Yanagisawa directs in 1987 intensive courses in advanced printing techniques and the Printing Studio will cease all activity until 1997, when Constança Meira will become responsible for giving printing workshops at the Quinta de S. Miguel in Almada (an activity that will last until 2002). Still in 1997, artists Ana Jotta, José Pedro Croft, Pedro Calapez and Pedro Casqueiro are invited to work at the Almada studio and the school produces two final editions (by Pedro Calapez and Ana Jotta). In 2000/2001 the Printing Centre, as it’s then called, becomes directly connected with the Illustration/Comics department, both being directed by Jorge Nesbitt. An abundant printing production can be seen by 2001 (Madalena Parreira, Thierry Simões, Ângelo Encarnação, Catarina Tavares, Duarte Belard da Fonseca, Daniela Krtsch, Joana Salvador, Mary St. George, António Freitas, Marcelo Costa, André Almeida e Sousa, Francisca Couceiro, among others). Printing becomes a complementary practice for students in several different departments, offers monthly training programs and eventually promotes special workshops. A variety of techniques are used, from drypoint and aquatint to monotypes, linoleum, etc. Catarina Tavares Dias gives a workshop in 2002 and Jorge Nesbitt in 2003. In 2004 Printing becomes part of the programs of the Painting department, with technical orientation by Madalena Parreira and with the collaboration of Hugo Amorim (2004/05). Guest artists will also eventually come to Almada to orient workshops (Ângelo de Sousa in 2006) and the number of workshops and of the techniques experimented with will slowly grow, while at the same time the Printing studio catters to more differentiated publics as a result, namely, of special programs conceived for other institutions (St. Julian’s School in 2003 and 2004, St. Dominic’s International School in 2004 and 2007). Printing loses its installations temporarily in 2008 (as these are transformed to become Ar.Co’s new Library/Documentation Centre) and resumes its activities in 2011 at the Almada studio spaces of the Advanced Course in Visual Arts. Madalena Parreira provides technical orientation and organizes thematic workshops with the collaboration of Maria João Brito. In 2012, silkscreen printing is reintroduced with a workshop given by Madalena Parreira and Lucy Bainbridge, on the basis of a partnership with the Loja das Maquetas. From 2013 onwards, Jorge Nesbitt gives some brief workshops introducing Illustration/BD students to the basic techniques and accompanies the work in printing of students in the advanced programs. Printmaking gains fresh impetus 2017, under the guidance of Madalena Parreira. The board of directors decides that printing will become an integral part of the regular program in the departments’ basic course and attributes a physical space to the studio - the 1st floor Left at the Quinta de S. Miguel in Almada. A mini-studio, in the Lisbon installations of the Illustration department, will become its extension. Additional equipment is acquired and the new printing programs begin in 2017-2018, with workshops for the Drawing/Painting, Illustration and Ceramics departments, besides the planned support given to students of Advanced Courses and Individual Projects. A one-day-a-week open-studio program is designed to receive outside students and artists who wish to perfect their practice or improve their skills. With a strong experimental vocation, the Printing Studio explores both traditional techniques (copper plate engraving: aquatint, etching, soft ground), linocuts and alternative processes (collagraphy and matrices in less traditional materials, such as acrylic, paper and cardboard). Workshops are specially designed within the context of some collaborations (as with the parish council of Beato) and as part of the school’s continuing education programs taking place on Saturdays and in the Summer.
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Fernando Calhau, silkscreen print, edition Ar.Co, 1973.
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Silkscreen Printing Studio, headed by António Inverno. Ar.Co, Lisbon, 1973.
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Printing Studio. João Hogan. Ar.Co, Lisbon, 1978.
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Poster for exhibition of prints from the Slade School, London. Ar.Co, Lisbon, 1974.
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Printing techniques course with Noriko Yanagisawa, Ar.Co, Lisbon, 1987.
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Constança Arouca. Monotype, 2005.
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Mafalda Pereira. "Untitled", 2005, monotype.
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Printing workshop with Madalena Parreira. 2006.
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Printing workshop with Angelo de Sousa, 2006, Quinta de S. Miguel, Almada.
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Printing youth workshop with Jorge Nesbitt, Quinta de S. Miguel, Almada, 2007.
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Silkscreen workshop with Lucy Bainbridge. Quinta de S. Miguel, Almada, 2012.
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Printing workshop, Ar.Co Almada. Summer Exhibition, 2018.
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"Autumn Show/Open Studio 2014", Quinta de S. Miguel, Almada. Prints by Roger Paulino.
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Group exercise on Bosch's "Tempations of St Anthony". Ar.Co Almada, Dec 2018.
