Two Printers / Alan Kitching & James Anderson
–
Alan Kitching is one of the world’s foremost practitioners of letterpress typographic design and printmaking. Alan is renowned for his expressive use of wood and letterforms in creating visuals for commissions and his own limited edition prints. In 1973 Alan began his own design practice in London with Colin Forbes. In 1977 he partnered with Derek Birdsall and Martin Lee at Omnific and started letterpress printing there in 1985. He began letterpress workshops in 1986 at Omnific Studios, Islington, London. He then went on to establish The Typography Workshop in Clerkenwell (1989). From 1994 he worked in partnership with designer/writer Celia Stothard (later his wife). In 1999, in partnership with designer and teacher, Celia Stothard FRSA, Kitching purchased a large collection of theatrical wood types, now named, ‘Entertaining Types’ and housed in Kennington, Lambeth, South London.
James Anderson, though working as a doctor, has always had a great interest in visual art - he interspersed a degree in history of art with a medical degree. His interest in printmaking has developed over the last ten years and has embraced many techniques including etching, chine collé, woodcut, and carborundum. He likes to explore the expressive quality of print through colour, material and gesture and particularly enjoys the painterly possibilities of carborundum. His work employs many of these techniques in a single print using multiple plates to exploit and demonstrate the different textures and qualities these different processes possess. For their gestural qualities his influences have included Robert Motherwell and Howard Hodgkin but he also enjoys the superlative linear etchings of David Hockney and Ben Nicholson.
Alan and James are near neighbours in south London and have become friends over their shared interest in printing as an art form. Although their prints are very different, the one based around letterpress the other around abstract design, they share similarities. They both exploit bold colour and bold design. They have developed this exhibition to demonstrate those qualities through the juxtaposition of their work.