MarilenaSutera
Marilena Sutera, born in Fermo in 1959, lectures in Printmaking Techniques and Screen Printing at the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome.
She specialised in printmaking at the ‘Il Bisonte’ International School of Graphic Arts in Florence and in screen printing in Madrid at Mariano Durante’s studio. In her work, she draws on her experience in painting and printmaking to explore and create new forms of expression. She collaborates with the choreographer Aurelio Gatti on painting-dance performances, creates videos and designs video installations such as ‘La scatola della memoria’ (The Memory Box), Calcata (VT), and ‘Diomira’, Rome. She has held numerous solo exhibitions, including ‘VIRIDITAS’ at the Malborghetto Archaeological Museum in Rome, ‘FUORI CENTRO’ at the ‘L’Alveare’ Centre in Milan, ‘LEVITAZIONI’ at the Galleria Il Marzocco in Rome, ‘ROSSO FAVOLA’ at Palazzo Datini in Prato, and ‘IL LINGUAGGIO SOGNATO DELLA GRAFICA’ at the Centre for Printmaking and Graphic Art in Formello (Rome). She has taken part in major national and international art exhibitions, including the 66th Sassoferrato Prize, Municipality of Sassoferrato (AN), ‘Segno contemporaneo’, Dingyuan Art Museum, Beijing, and the Bellini Museum, Florence, and contributed to the collective artist’s book ‘Raices’ produced by TRESS, Taller de grabado, Lima.
His work has been published in the book ‘REGISTRI DI ARTE’ by Mariano Apa.
He has curated projects in collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Accademia di Santa Cecilia, La Sapienza University in Rome and Boston College in Boston, the Terna utility company, the Osvaldo Licini Research Centre, Temple University in Philadelphia and the City of Rome.
The three-year Screen Printing course programme includes the following phases:
Introduction to the screen printing technique and description of the tools, materials and their use.
The development of screen printing throughout history and its relationship with other printing techniques.
Projection of screen-printing works created by contemporary artists and by students from previous courses.
students from previous courses.
Description of the two methods for preparing a screen printing frame that will be used during the course:
– Shellac coating method;
– Photoengraving method.
Demonstration of the printing process and the method for producing limited editions.
Students will be required to use both screen preparation methods: they will be asked to create a first project using a screen prepared with shellac and a second project using a photo-etched screen.
Presentation of the theme on which students will be required to develop a project.
Individual discussion of each project, during which students will present their own personal work in printmaking, painting or any other technique. Using test prints and sketches, students will present an idea (a project for a portfolio, an artist’s book, sculptures or assemblages) based on the theme proposed by the lecturer or on a topic already covered in other disciplines that they wish to explore further using the screen-printing technique.
Application of the shellac-coating method: preparation of the frames using screen-printing nylon, transfer of the image onto the nylon (previously agreed with the tutor), selection of colours, and coating with shellac.
Printing tests using different colours on various types of paper and substrates (fabric, canvas, wood, plexiglass, cardboard, etc.)
Application of the photoengraving method: preparation of the image on a transparency and photoengraving of the frames.
Once the steps described above have been completed and the project and the appropriate technique have been determined, students must demonstrate that they have mastered the tools and materials of the technique by producing prints on paper or any other material, resulting in works that demonstrate:
Compositional skills in terms of form and colour;
Proficiency in the use of tools and materials;
An aptitude for reflecting on and exploring the topic in depth.
EXPERIMENTAL NATURE OF THE COURSE
We would like to emphasise the predominantly experimental nature of the course, given the versatility of the screen-printing technique itself.
Indeed, after demonstrating their ability to produce screen-printing test prints on paper, students will be free to choose any type of material or substrate (wood, paper, fabric, canvas, metal, three-dimensional objects, etc.) to carry out their own project, including through the combined use of both the manual and photoengraving methods.
As part of the course, there will be workshops, seminars, meetings with artists and art theorists, and in-depth studies of various types of techniques.
Over the course of the three-year programme, students must submit at least two portfolios of screen prints on paper, which demonstrate personal artistic exploration of the form and content of their work.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Franco Lo Giudice – Trattato di serigrafia – Ed. Tirrenia Stampatori, Turin, 1998
Manlio Guberti Helfrich – Serigrafia per artisti, Ed. Ulrico Hoepli, Milan, 1957
Eric Shanes – ‘Andy Warhol’, Ed. Gribaudo, 2005
Brad Faine – Professional Screen Printing – Ikon Editrice
Daniel Tummolillo – ‘VIP, Various Italian Printmakers’, Edizioni Del Frisco, 2021, Milan