exhibition: Robert Powell

My first visit to an exhibition in over a year and man, was it a good one.

There’s so much going on that I don’t even know where to start.

Well, I guess I’ll talk about the massive clock that he constructed. The designs that make up this instillation are just… so detailed. Even when I thought I had seen all of it, a new little drawing would catch my eye or I would discover another thing in a corner somewhere… it never ended.

And all of this was etched on copper plates. Mind boggling. He had to draw all of that by hand and even after all of that he still wasn’t finished because then he had put the plates into acid baths, clean them off, ink them up, then again with colour, then again for just the lines, and then print them. So much work went into these prints and he did each print six times (probably more because no way the first six turned out perfectly). I am amazed and impressed. Even without knowledge of such printmaking processes, this is an impressive collection.

I love that he incorporated the copper plates into his work as well. More often than not, the matrix from which the print comes from is set aside and only what is shown on paper is displayed. But I love the copper plates, I think they’re beautiful in their own right. Little metal treasures.

You can even see his fingerprints smudged with ink on the surface of some of the plates! I adore this kind of physicality, a reminder that there is a person behind this stunning art who, before it all became gallery-worthy, had to get their hands dirty. The art didn’t just materialise perfect, done and dusted. No, hard work and a lot of trial and error came before this.

All those hand-drawn details are making me want to give it a go, as lazy as I am.

Something to consider going into the future I think… Hmm.

This exhibition ‘Hall of Hours’ is on from August 1st - November 2nd 2025 in Edinburgh Printmakers, Scotland, for those of you interested!

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Robert Powell is known for his incredibly detailed and scholarly paintings, prints, instillations and sculpture. Powell’s unmistakable vision is darkly satirical, revealing humanity in all its perplexing intricacy, grandeur and folly. Drawing on the socially critical works of Hogarth, Bosch, Ensor, Goya and Japanese Ukiyo-e artists of the Edo period, Powell’s wit, surgical eye and grasp of human history sets him apart.

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