Community Focus Drives Printmaking Exhibition
Tuesday, 31 May, 2016
Printmaker Stephen Corry draws on his interaction with his local inner west community in a new exhibition opening this week at Leichhardt Library.
‘A Year of Printmaking’ is Corry’s seventh exhibition and will run throughout June.
As the title suggests, the thirty-five original prints in the exhibition detail the artist’s printmaking from one calendar year, from March 2015 to March 2016.
The artworks are characteristic of the detailed drawing that landed Corry a spot as a finalist in the prestigious Dobell Prize for Drawing exhibition at the Art Gallery of NSW in 2011.
Community is central to Corry, an inner-west born and based artist, musician and art teacher.
“I like to engage with people in public places who show so very much interest in what I am doing,” he said.
“Art builds bridges between people.”
Corry said many of the artworks in his current exhibition have stories born out of how, why or where they were made.
“They were mostly created whilst I was moving around community centres, busking, at parks or at libraries,” he said.
“Printmaking is a part of the process I use to arrive at the destination of artworks showcasing highly detailed drawings. There are several similar versions of each design. They are numbered in limited editions, but they are all unique to themselves.”
Corry has a strong sense of the healing role of art in society.
“I often try to make the art I produce positive but the mediums of black ink printmaking can lend themselves to producing darker works too, by the nature of these mediums,” he said.
“I am always keen to show people that creativity can help offer answers to some of the pressing issues that affect some of those who are homeless or who have a mental illness diagnosis.
“Generally speaking, the making of art is really the basis of western civilization and today it can offer a real alternative to the existential destruction of the modern psyche through excessive alcohol or drug abuse.”
The exhibition is free and can be viewed at Leichhardt Library during library hours.
For more information, see Council’s website at
To download the program and map, go to What's On!