Heist Gallery presents Papercut, a group show of works on paper. This exhibition features artists who put ink to paper to create their conceived world. Ink on paper in its various forms is the essence of communication and has served as the indispensable tool for artists and writers, allowing them to transform ideas into visual manifestations. Paper – the flat smooth surface of this ubiquitous element – is the essential starting point that moves each artist presented here to the limitless possibilities of creative thought.

The eponymous exhibition coincides with the launch of Papercut, a project created by Amani Olu, founder of the Humble Arts Foundation and Julie Fishkin, curator, writer and founder of the MetroColorCollision art collective. Papercut is an online exhibition platform that showcases five works on paper per month, working as an interactive gallery, with each one available for purchase as a print. The project celebrates the accessible nature of prints and the printmaking process. A print is a work on paper created through the application and transfer of ink from a surface onto paper and exists in multiples. Rather than drawing directly on paper, the artist creates the intended image for print on a separate surface and places a sheet of paper in contact with ink to create the desired number of multiples. Each impression becomes an edition. From the earliest woodcut prints found in China in the ninth century to the screen prints universalized by Pop art of the 1960s, printmaking is a technically involved and skillful process that allows for the creation of singular artworks that can exist in multiple examples. This versatile process therefore enables one to own a unique creative vision at an affordable price. Historically, printmaking has provided the most effective way to transmit a vital idea or message with its distinct image to the masses. Printmaking is thus the backbone of counterculture art movements and their chosen modes of communication such as ‘zines, stencils, wheat pastes and graffiti. The aim of Papercut is to provide a platform for viewing singular works on paper and collecting affordable prints.