Artist Proof Studio
Artist Proof Studio: A journey in Co-creation
May 2019
In May 2019, the FADA Gallery hosted the Artist Proof Studio exhibition, A Journey in Co-Creation.
The idea of ‘co-creation’ disrupts traditionally western ideas around artmaking as a purely individual and independent creative exercise. Put forward in this alternative approach is an emphasis on process, on relationality, and in general, a more democratic creative economy. This ethos of co-creation has been central to the growth and remarkable creative output of Artist Proof Studio (APS), founded in Johannesburg twenty-eight years ago by the late Nhlanhla Xaba and Kim Berman.
Celebrating this collaborative impulse, this exhibition brought together a range of exceptional print projects produced by artists who have, sometimes over many years, engaged in the collectively empowering space that is APS.
Collaboration comes about when people seek to create value together – a process exemplified in the social dynamic of the printmaking studio, in which artists and printmakers collectively produce or ‘co-create’ printed works of art. In the APS ‘Pro Shop’, this involves a creative dialogue, or dance, in which the professional printmaker brings skills and support to an artist’s vision. The dynamic collaboration reflected in this studio environment is extended through the expanded reach of the print multiple (or edition), which allows for a greater distribution of, and so access to, original works of art.