Concordia artists feature strongly in a new exhibition at Gallery 418, organized to showcase growing ties between major Montreal professional printmaking studio Atelier Circulaire and the Studio Arts Department.

The show is the result of an initiative last April by studio arts technicians Lyne Bastien and Stephanie Russ to foster greater interaction between Concordia art students and artists in the field.

Concordia is represented by works by graduate students Ericka Palma and Luke Painter and undergraduates Katie Lyle, Andrée-Anne Labelle and Lauren Bunker, as well as Kiki Athanassiadis, Nadine Bariteau and Maria Chronopoulos, Concordia graduates who volunteer as monitors in the department’s workshops in exchange for use of facilities.

Called La gravure contemporaine, the exhibition is a diverse display of three-dimensional, book, photographic and digital works, as well as art made with traditional processes. “It’s very varied and shows a lot of what’s happening in printmaking today,” Russ said.

Further to the exhibition, Russ and Bastien have arranged an artist exchange.

Since January, two professional artists from Atelier Circulaire have been working in Concordia’s studios, and three students will have access to Circulaire’s studios and professional equipment over the next three months.

Access to a professional shop gives students important exposure to contemporary printmaking artists and practices, helping bridge their transition from students to artists in the professional art world, Russ said.

La gravure contemporaine runs from Feb. 8-22 at Gallery 418, in the Belgo Building at 372 Ste. Catherine W., with a vernissage on Sat., Feb. 8, from 3-5 p.m.