Biography

Jim Creed is the Coordinator of the Regional Print Centre and Memorial Gallery at Coleg Cambria in Wrexham, North Wales. He has a first class BA (Hons) in 20th Century Art History & Culture from Lancaster University and an MA with Distinction in Museum Studies from the University of Leicester.He has curated exhibitions and artist focused projects in venues across North Wales, as well as programming touring shows, events and educational activities at the Memorial Gallery and Regional Print Centre.Creed is responsible for the promotion, display and handling of the Paul Peter Piech collection at Coleg Cambria and has conducted extensive research into the artist.

Illustrated Talk

Humanity in print: the work of Paul Peter Piech
This illustrated talk will discuss the career, motivation, and artistic journey of the graphic artist and printmaker Paul Peter Piech (1920-1996). It will also demonstrate why he continues to be regarded as an important artist, printmaker and humanitarian who utilised printmaking as a means for social, political and personal expression.

The talk will draw on artwork and artefacts from the Paul Peter Piech collection at Coleg Cambria in Wrexham North Wales, which is comprised of over 200 prints, printed posters and a vast selection of his original lino printing plates. This is the largest archive of his work in Wales and a unique resource within the Welsh Further Education sector. On a national level the collection is second only to the archive of Piech’s work held at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

It is unknown how many posters Piech originally printed or how many still exist today, it is thought to be thousands, but each design would have been produced in very limited quantities some on which were signed and numbered, others not. For Piech the most important element to his work were the messages and references they portrayed. The poster was a means by which he projected his opinions and values into a wider arena. After establishing his own firm the Taurus Press in 1959 Piech went on to create and exhibited an extensive body of political and socially motivated printed posters, many of which combined his trademark hard-hitting imagery with heavy cut linocut lettering.

The talk will highlight the eventful and morally focused artistic journey Piech undertook during his career. From his upbringing in New York and his highly successful graphic design career, to his life in Porthcawl in South Wales where he had an influential impact on the Welsh art scene in the 1980s/early 1990s.