Fine print: Paul Catherall’s architectural linocuts pack a nostalgic punch

Printmaker and one-time Wallpaper* cover artist Paul Catherall is no stranger to hard work. Each one of his architectural prints takes around six weeks to complete – and there are dozens of them in a bountiful new selling exhibition at London’s For Arts Sake gallery.
‘The process is pretty laborious,’ Catherall explains. ‘I draw up initial designs on tracing paper, refining the compositions for days at a time.’ When he's finally happy, Catherall paints a gouache colour sketch to see which palette might work. Then, he traces the design in pencil onto linoleum – the same kind found on kitchen floors – before transferring it with woodcut tools onto specialist Swiss-made lino, ready for printing, one colour at a time.
‘I like the mix of creativity (the design, the drawing) and also the labour-intensive aspect of making a print,’ Catherall explains. ‘It’s a pretty traditional, step-by-step process, all done by hand. It demands patience, which I’ve learned over time.’
‘Pink Elephant’, 2005
Though Catherall continues to hone his printmaking skills today, his passion for architecture dates back to his childhood. Catherall grew up in Coventry, where time capsules of post-war architecture sprawl across the city in concrete clusters. ‘It was a slow realisation. On moving to London in the late 80s, places like the National Theatre, the Barbican and Elephant & Castle Shopping Centre felt familiar. They packed a bit of a nostalgic punch for me.’
Catherall indulges this nostalgia in his linocut A Vision, which was commissioned to illustrate a Simon Armitage poem of the same name, and incorporates elements of Coventry’s modernist Precinct. The rest of the works included in the exhibition focus on London landmarks (a city Catherall now calls home), including two new works depicting Perivale’s art deco Hoover building, set against a moody grey and blood-red sky, respectively.
Other spotlighted structures include Trellick Tower, Tate Modern and the Shard. But there’s more to come. ‘I have a long list of brutalist, modernist and art deco buildings I want to tackle,’ Catherall explains. ‘I’m working my way through them – slowly.’ Watch this carefully coloured, painstakingly printed space.
Left, Telecom Yellow, 2012. Right, Trellick, 2015
Left, Down and Out in Paris & London, 2012. Right, Goldfinger III, 2011
National Magenta, 2017
Left, A Vision, 2013. Right, Barbican Shapes, 2010
City of London Grey, 2016
Pink Elephant, 2005
Left, Routemaster at Bank, 2014. Right, Routemaster at Kings Cross, 2014
INFORMATION
‘Paul Catherall: Limited Edition Linocuts’ is on view until 21 May. For more information, visit Paul Catherall’s website and the For Arts Sake website
ADDRESS
Ealing Gallery
45 Bond Street
London W5 5AS
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
Elly Parsons is the Digital Editor of Wallpaper*, where she oversees Wallpaper.com and its social platforms. She has been with the brand since 2015 in various roles, spending time as digital writer – specialising in art, technology and contemporary culture – and as deputy digital editor. She was shortlisted for a PPA Award in 2017, has written extensively for many publications, and has contributed to three books. She is a guest lecturer in digital journalism at Goldsmiths University, London, where she also holds a masters degree in creative writing. Now, her main areas of expertise include content strategy, audience engagement, and social media.
-
Tour the best contemporary tea houses around the world
Celebrate the world’s most unique tea houses, from Melbourne to Stockholm, with a new book by Wallpaper’s Léa Teuscher
By Léa Teuscher
-
‘Humour is foundational’: artist Ella Kruglyanskaya on painting as a ‘highly questionable’ pursuit
Ella Kruglyanskaya’s exhibition, ‘Shadows’ at Thomas Dane Gallery, is the first in a series of three this year, with openings in Basel and New York to follow
By Hannah Silver
-
Australian bathhouse ‘About Time’ bridges softness and brutalism
‘About Time’, an Australian bathhouse designed by Goss Studio, balances brutalist architecture and the softness of natural patina in a Japanese-inspired wellness hub
By Ellie Stathaki
-
‘Humour is foundational’: artist Ella Kruglyanskaya on painting as a ‘highly questionable’ pursuit
Ella Kruglyanskaya’s exhibition, ‘Shadows’ at Thomas Dane Gallery, is the first in a series of three this year, with openings in Basel and New York to follow
By Hannah Silver
-
The art of the textile label: how British mill-made cloth sold itself to Indian buyers
An exhibition of Indo-British textile labels at the Museum of Art & Photography (MAP) in Bengaluru is a journey through colonial desire and the design of mass persuasion
By Aastha D
-
Artist Qualeasha Wood explores the digital glitch to weave stories of the Black female experience
In ‘Malware’, her new London exhibition at Pippy Houldsworth Gallery, the American artist’s tapestries, tuftings and videos delve into the world of internet malfunction
By Hannah Silver
-
Ed Atkins confronts death at Tate Britain
In his new London exhibition, the artist prods at the limits of existence through digital and physical works, including a film starring Toby Jones
By Emily Steer
-
Tom Wesselmann’s 'Up Close' and the anatomy of desire
In a new exhibition currently on show at Almine Rech in London, Tom Wesselmann challenges the limits of figurative painting
By Sam Moore
-
A major Frida Kahlo exhibition is coming to the Tate Modern next year
Tate’s 2026 programme includes 'Frida: The Making of an Icon', which will trace the professional and personal life of countercultural figurehead Frida Kahlo
By Anna Solomon
-
A portrait of the artist: Sotheby’s puts Grayson Perry in the spotlight
For more than a decade, photographer Richard Ansett has made Grayson Perry his muse. Now Sotheby’s is staging a selling exhibition of their work
By Hannah Silver
-
From counter-culture to Northern Soul, these photos chart an intimate history of working-class Britain
‘After the End of History: British Working Class Photography 1989 – 2024’ is at Edinburgh gallery Stills
By Tianna Williams