Zhu Yinneng (1935-2021), a pioneer of Songjiang silkscreen block print and a cultural worker at the local culture center, talked with his coworkers. In the 1980s, the success of farm paintings to illustrate and enrich rural life in the neighboring Jinshan area in Shanghai sparked citywide modeling. It was nourished by traditional Chinese art forms such as embroidery, stove ornament paintings and paper cutting. Modelled after workers' posters from the Soviet Union, farm painting in China dates back before the "cultural revolution" (1966-1976) in Yan'an, Shaanxi Province. The art form, drawing on Western industrialization achievements by using light-sensitive paper to produce negatives and a tailored machine to produce silkscreen blocks, differs from ordinary Chinese farm paintings in that subtle patterns formed through paints filtered through a silkscreen are reflected in the final works. When I became a culture worker at Songjiang Culture Center in 2006, the number of local print artists had been reduced from nearly 200 to single digits," Lu recalled. As the country switched from planned economy to a market-oriented one in the 1990s, a large proportion of the local print artists quit and found jobs in businesses. "Songjiang silkscreen block print developed and reached its peak from the mid-1980s to the early 1990s. Lu Yongqing, who has been a Songjiang silkscreen block print teacher and artist for 15 years, recently supervised the renovation of the old residence into an intangible cultural heritage promotion center, which now houses three printmaking artists' workshops and is the creative base for more than 30 silkscreen block print artists. In comparison, locals attracted to the artworks would linger until they get their fill of admiring the artworks. It is said, jokingly, that the morning sunshine is so hasty in running its errand each day that it always passes the vitrines before 9:30am. The print works, in simple patterns and vibrant colors, are inviting. Vitrines on one facade of an old Zhang family residence near Shihe River showcases more than a dozen Songjiang silkscreen block prints. In the 1960’s Pop Artists such as Peter Blake, Andy Warhol and Robert Rauschenberg used screen printing as an integral element to their practice, thus establishing it and popularising it as a medium for creating contemporary art.Vitrines exhibit works of Songjiang silkscreen block print. In 1938 in New York a group of artists began experimenting with screenprinting as an artistic medium onto paper. In the early part of the 20th century squeegees were introduced as a way of pulling ink through the screen mesh. It was here that the practice of stretching silk over a frame to support stencils was initiated but it is now known by whom. Stiff brushes were still being used as a way to push ink through the mesh. In the 17th century silk screens were being used in France as a way of printing onto fabric. Stiff brushes were used to force ink through the mesh onto the fabric. At this time stencils were cut out of paper and the mesh was woven from human hair. Screenprinting originated in China (around AD 221) as a way of transferring designs onto fabrics.įollowing this the Japanese began using simple stenciling techniques as a way to create imagery. Home » Printmaking » Screenprinting » A brief history of screenprinting
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