ARU student wins prestigious printmakers award
Published: 27 September 2023 at 11:00
Etching by Niall MacCrann is being exhibited at the Bankside Gallery in London
An etching by an Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) student has scooped a prize at a prestigious London print exhibition.
Niall MacCrann’s work, entitled “Why can’t they draw fruit (Onsen)? #1” has won the East London Printmakers award at the International Original Print Exhibition, which is on display at the Bankside Gallery in Hopton Street, London until 1 October.
Niall’s work, which he completed during his MA in Fine Art at ARU, is based on his experiences of public bathhouses, while the title references an online comment on a local news story about life drawing in schools.
The prize will give Niall a year’s associate membership and 10 free sessions at the East London Printmakers workshop.
Niall, who is 33 and originally from Dublin, said:
“Printmaking at ARU was so much fun and a key part of my MA - it was important to me to gain new technical skills as well as developing my work conceptually and thematically.”
Véronique Chance, Course Leader for the MA Fine Art at ARU, said:
“These achievements are all the more significant given that Niall came to the course, as some of his peers also did, having initially followed a different career path. They also demonstrate the value and benefit of studying an artistic course, that not only does it teach you new skills, it also teaches you that there is life as an artist beyond it.”
Niall, who will graduate from ARU in November, has also been selected to show his work at the Woolwich Contemporary Print Fair, which runs from 26-29 October, and was recognised by Cambridge Artworks for his recent MA Show exhibition at ARU.