“There are more things in heaven and earth … than are dreamt of in your philosophy,” Hamlet said. Or as Shakespeare implied, more exists than people first realise.

The fascinating and challenging Visible but Intangible exhibition at Megalo in Kingston brings together the work of 38 of the finest and most recognised Sydney printmakers who tackle this question in their art.

Tina Barahanos, in her The landscape we drove through reminds me of another place through the medium of a monoprint realised digitally, creates an uncanny landscape that carries the ghost of memory. So many of us have visited a place we have never been before, and yet have that slightly eerie but pleasant sensation of déjà vu. Barahanos manages to convey this feeling.

Susan Baran, Spring visible but intangible, 2024, photopolymer, 28 x 38cm. Photo:

Susan Baran, in her playful photopolymer print Spring: Visible but intangible, examines the idea “tangible things are almost always visible but visible things are not always tangible”. The fecundity of spring is visible, even though the idea of spring itself may not be immediately tangible.

Roslyn Kean, In Silence, 2024, woodcut, 28 x 38cm. Photo: Megalo.

Roslyn Kean in her stunning woodcut, In Silence, invites us to contemplate the form and the content of a concept. The visual is a language in its own right in some of these images, including that by Kean, and this permits us to bypass the verbal. The images seem to communicate directly to us on some spiritual level that we intuitively feel without needing to translate this feeling into words.

The Sydney Printmakers is Australia’s oldest and most respected organisation of printmakers. Membership is set at a maximum of 60 and each member is an accomplished printmaker vetted by their peers before being admitted to the organisation.

There are no duds in this exhibition. Printmaking is generally an art form where women dominate the men. In this exhibition, 28 of the 38 artists are women. Prices for original prints are depressed with costs in this exhibition between $200 and $500, which is a little ridiculous for nationally and internationally recognised artists mostly represented in the collection of the National Gallery as well as other major public art collections. In Europe or America, work of comparable quality would have at least another digit added to the price.

Maximilian Gosling, Meeting a Lunafripella, 2024, etching and lithograph, 28x38cm. Photo: Courtesy of the artist.

Given the Visible/Intangible theme to play with, each artist puts their own stamp on the idea. The wonderful Rew Hanks, George Lo Grasso and Maximilian Gosling treat it with irony and humour. Seraphina Martin and Anne Smith create wondrous and seductive fantasies, while Jacqui Driver, Danielle Creenaune and Seong Cho create beautiful landscape images that may be read on a number of levels, including as a comment on a threatened environment.

Angus Fisher, Gravity, 2024, etching, 38 x 28cm. Photo: Megalo.

Angus Fisher in his etching Gravity creates an image of haunting simplicity. Gary Shinfield’s relief print, Shelter, is a work of mystery and enchantment. Neilton Clarke, Ruth Burgess, Anthea Boesenberg, Andrew Totman, Laura Stark and Angela Hayson create pieces that testify to their reputations as some of Australia’s leading printmakers.

Other outstanding artists include Wendy Stokes, Carolyn McKenzie Craig, Salvatore Gerardi, Sharon Zwi, Lea Kannar Lichtenberger, Esther Neate, Denise Scholz Wulfung, Karen Ball, Thea Weiss, Carmen Ky, Janet Parker Smith, Olwen Evans Wilson, Rafael Butron, Anne Starling, Evan Pank, Graham Marchant, Anna Russell, Mark Rowden, Mirra Whale, Therese Kenyon and Jenny Robinson.

Gary Shinfield, Shelter, 2024, relief, 28 x 38cm. Photo: Megalo.

It’s an exhibition that makes us question the ‘reality’ that surrounds us and opens the door to the possibility that more exists in this world than is dreamt of in our philosophies.

Visible but Intangible: Sydney Printmakers is open Tuesday to Saturday, 9:30 am to 5 pm until 29 March at Megalo Print Studio & Gallery, 21 Wentworth Avenue, Kingston. Entry is free.