Antique printing press installed in art gallery

Work will be produced on the press by Dr Simon Harris along with seven other artists

A working antique printing press has been installed at an art gallery as part of a celebration of contemporary printmaking.

The flatbed press is on loan to Birmingham's Ikon Gallery by Wolverhampton School of Art.

A cohort of West Midlands printmakers will create new works at the gallery, transforming it into a functioning studio.

Manufactured in the mid 19th Century, the press was bought by the art school in 1970 "and been in continuous use by students ever since", said Dr Simon Harris, senior lecturer and course leader for fine art.

The exhibition also includes a collection of contemporary prints

Dr Harris added: "It dates from around the 1800s [and] was used by the Admiralty for maps and charts and has that history associated with it."

He is one of eight artists who will work with the machine during the Start The Press! exhibition, which has opened to the public.

The intaglio press takes its position in the gallery "as a form of occupation in the tradition of art-school student sit-ins," organisers said.

Student protests in Wolverhampton were common around Enoch Powell's 1968 "Rivers of Blood" speech, explained Dr Harris.

"At that time there was a distinct print-making course at the art school, and at that time we also had a lithograph and letter press too."

The press is installed in the Ikon Gallery in Birmingham

The artist has also been named as Ikon Gallery's new artist in residence at its project at HMP Grendon in Buckinghamshire.

A contemporary art gallery and workshop has been set up at the high-security men's prison, including a smaller printing press.

"I'm looking forward to using it and expanding on those techniques with residents," he added.

Start the Press will run at the Ikon Gallery in Brindley Place, Birmingham, until 21 April.