Kip Gresham

(1951-2024)

Kip Gresham was a British printmaker and painter best known for his work in screenprint, characterised by bold colour, graphic clarity, and a distinctive sense of visual wit. His imagery often drew on everyday objects and visual culture, reworked into carefully structured compositions. He studied at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne and later at the Royal College of Art, where he developed a strong commitment to printmaking as both a creative and collaborative practice. In 1975 he founded the Manchester Print Workshop, establishing an early platform for contemporary printmaking in Britain. Gresham later moved to Cambridge, where he founded Chilford Hall Press with Sam Alper. In 1989 this merged with Stanley Jones’s Curwen Studio to form Curwen Chilford Prints, placing him at the centre of the studio’s later development. He continued to play a key role in printmaking through subsequent ventures, including Gresham Studio and, later, The Print Studio in Cambridge. Alongside his own work, Gresham was an influential educator and advocate for printmaking, supporting artists and promoting the medium both in the UK and internationally. Archives of all the Print Studio and Kip Gresham Editions is held by the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge and The Kasser Art Foundation in the USA.