NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE.- Having viewed over 8,000 pieces of work, the judges Stephen Chambers RA, Kip Gresham and Gill Saunders, have selected 90 artists from all over the world whose diverse approach to printmaking reflects the medium's endless potential in contemporary art practice. The shortlist includes internationally renown names including Louise Bourgeois and Mimmo Paladino, alongside lesser-known artists and those exhibiting for the first time. The print awards includes a number of prizes including the Nexus Art Transport Commission Prize and the V&A Print Award, with each one of the selected artists exhibiting at one of the following spaces across Newcastle-upon-Tyne : the Hatton Gallery 26 June – 15 August 2009, Laing Art Gallery 4 July – 4 October 2009 and Northern Print from 26 June – 4 October 2009.

The Northern Print Biennale 2009, developed in partnership with culture10, is the first major project concentrating on printmaking in the UK for over 20 years. Through an extensive programme of events across NewcastleGateshead, the Biennale aims to reward and promote the very best in British and international printmaking.

Gill Saunders (Senior Curator at the V&A): "Much of the appeal of printmaking is that it is continually shape-shifting, challenging the familiar definitions, and re-drawing the boundaries. I approached the selection process with a simple maxim: I was looking for prints with a purpose and a presence beyond a purely technical mastery, prints which celebrated the capacities of their chosen medium, and in which the artists had successfully realised their original ideas. Our final selection, painstakingly refined from the impressive diversity on offer, is a vivid testament to the vigour and currency of printmaking in the 21st century."