Rory Brooke Prints
Statement
I am an artist-printmaker based in London. I mostly produce screenprints, linocuts and giclee prints of my coloured drawings.
In my work I illustrate underlying issues and context in society while also seeking original ways to look at composition and colour. I am particularly interested in the environment, development and our urban and rural landscapes and how these things interact. I emphasise blocks of colour, strong geometric shapes, and contrasting patterns and textures. Most of my pictures are landscapes often with a focus on simplified composition. For my screenprints I take an iterative, reduction approach with layers built up with paper stencils and block-out paint.
My latest work has been exploring abstraction of rural landscape scenes in North Wales and the Pennines. I have recently completed a series of pictures on the industrial heritage and natural environment of Walthamstow Wetlands and the Lea Valley.
I am mostly self-taught but also learned on courses at open access print studios. I am the founder member and first chair of East London Printmakers. I was inspired by Birmingham Print Workshop and sought out fellow printmaker artists in East London with a common interest in promoting printmaking and developing resources for artists and the community to use.
I have exhibited in group and solo shows in locations including London, Birmingham, Bristol and Cardiff and venues and shows including: the London Art Biennale 2021; Royal West of England Academy Annual Open; London City Hall; Woolwich Print Fair; and the Princes Foundation. I won the Printmaking Today prize at the 2023 Festival of Print and the ArtGemini print prize 2024. I have been short-listed for the Jackson’s Art Prize 2025.
I was selected to take part in Sky Arts Landscape Artist of the Year in 2021.
This site is dedicated to Tatiana Thompson, my art teacher at secondary school, and Ted Rose, print course teacher and friend at Birmingham Print Workshop.
Testimonials and Critiques
Tai-Shan Schierenberg, portrait and landscape painter and LAOTY presenter talking about my picture 'A35 Through Chideock':
"I love the flatness of the colours, and the way the pigment goes down is very beautiful... Its graphicness is countererd by the very organic way the fouliage is rendered. Its quite magical."
Kathleen Soriano, director of exhibitions at the Royal Academy and LAOTY presenter on my picture 'West Wycombe House':
"The colours are just gorgeous."
Kate Bryan, British art historian, curator and arts broadcaster on my picture 'West Wycombe House':
"Hello Andy Warhol in your factory in the middle of Landscape Artist of the Year. It's so impressive."
"I think his colour palette is great. He's a very sophisticated artist."
"The colours are harmoneous. He's done something that's really zingy and attractive."
Rebecca Smith, Gallery Manager, Beers London Gallery (https://beerslondon.com/) critique:
'What stands out immediately is your confident use of colour and composition. The bold, flattened shapes and carefully constructed layers create a strong graphic language that is unmistakably rooted in printmaking, yet feels fresh and contemporary.
Your approach to landscape is particularly compelling. You take scenes that are recognisably British, estuaries, industrial edges, coastal formations, and distil them into something more structured and almost abstract. The landscapes feel familiar, but they’re also reinterpreted through your lens, which gives them a distinct identity. I think this ability to simplify without losing a sense of place is a real strength in your practice.
The relationship between environment and industry is also clearly articulated. The inclusion of cranes, infrastructure, and altered landscapes introduces a subtle tension within the work... I think the restraint you show in how you communicate this is effective as it allows the viewer space to reflect rather than being directed too explicitly.
Your technical process is another major strength. It’s clear that there is a deep understanding of screen-printing and linocut, and that you’re fully engaged with the material and its possibilities....
The colour palettes you use are also really distinctive. There’s a sensitivity to how colours sit alongside one another, particularly in the more muted, earthy works contrasted with moments of brighter intervention. This gives the prints a rhythm and cohesion across the series while still allowing each piece to stand on its own.
...Overall, this is a very confident and accomplished body of work. There’s a strong sense of identity, both visually and conceptually, and a clear dedication to the craft of printmaking.'
