Printed Response

Annie O'Donnell, Tony Charles, Nick Kennedy, Rachael Clewlow, Emma Bennett, Francesca Simon                                 21st August - 18th September 2025

With support from Durham University, Platform A presents Printed Response. A group exhibition featuring Annie O’Donnell, Tony Charles, Emma Bennett, Nick Kennedy, Rachael Clewlow, and Francesca Simon. Each artist has been commissioned to create a printed work in response to a work from Durham University’s Art Collection. Exhibited alongside the Durham works; these new printed responses highlight the consistency and value of printmaking as a medium throughout art history. Exploring the necessity of printmaking as a means of artistic expression, and an opportunity for exploration of technique, Printed Response brings together an expansive collection of artwork to call into consideration the role of printmaking within contemporary fine art.

Responding to works by Elizabeth Frink, John Piper, Terry Frost, Eduardo Paolozzi, Edward Bawden, and Josef Albers, each contemporary artist has reworked the concepts in these pieces within the scope of their individual practices. Annie O’Donnell explores the concept of place within her work, reconsidering the industrial heritage of the Tees Valley region into an investigation of relationships and narratives in Tees Valley and across the globe. Tony Charles is interested in industry, both in technique and concept. Often using industrial means of making within his practice, Charles explores the tension between the physicality of three-dimensional objects and two-dimensional works. Emma Bennett’s practice revolves around colour and shape, as well as architectural references to the Tees Valley area and beyond. Her works take existing buildings and spaces and reworks them into vibrant explorations of shape, rethinking the concept of representation. Nick Kennedy’s methodological and quasi-scientific approach to making artwork ensures a precision and sleekness to each work he creates. With an established background in printmaking, his carefully considered approach to process is as essential as the final product. Rachael Clewlow’s use of colour in her practice is founded in research and data gathering, her expansive colour palettes are often built from investigations into the North East region, weaving unseen narratives into the stripes of colour within her pieces. Francesca Simon is heavily influenced by both architecture and landscape, by both the presence of architectural structures and the space they leave in their absence. Using geometric forms to construct abstracted responses to this presence or lack of presence, she has developed a unique visual language that asks viewers to consider the space within her works.  The opportunity to respond to the Durham University Art Collection has enabled an interesting exploration and an augmentation of each artist’s visual language.