One of Britain’s leading figurative artists, Ray Richardson has exhibited extensively since graduating from Goldsmiths College, London in 1987.

Ray Richardson was first invited to produce prints at Glasgow Print Studio in 1992 when he made etchings and lithographs depicting his hallmark south east London characters in everyday situations. The narrative within the print is set up by the artist observational and drawing skills working with witty titles to reveal a twist in the tale or imply an underlying tragic humour.

The subject of these six new prints has moved away from southeast London to new, yet familiar, locals. The prints evoke associations with unspecific films, encouraging us to create a fiction to surround the image. Unlike the older prints there is not a comic element to these, but rather sense that something disturbing has taking place, is about to happen or is occurring ‘off screen’.

These prints were produced in Glasgow Print Studio workshop in 2003 as co-publications between the artists and GPS. The technique employed involved drawing onto trugrain (specialist acetate); the image is then exposed onto a photopolymer plate (a water soluble material) using ultraviolet light that solidifies the exposed areas of the plate. The plate is then washed and as a result of the effects of exposure, the areas where the image on the trugrain had covered wash away. These markings on the plate collect ink when it is rolled on and lightly wiped off. The plate is then placed on paper and pressed to transfer the image. The inking and pressing is done repeatedly to produce an edition of 50 prints.