Screen printing: creating onion-print art (ages 7–12)

The Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw invites you to creative family workshops accompanying the exhibition “Julie Mehretu. Kairos / Spiritual Variations”.

What do onions and the large paintings in our exhibition have in common? Layers! During the session, we’ll visit the exhibition halls together and see how the American artist constructs her works. We’ll quickly discover that Julie Mehretu’s paintings are very much like onions—they have many layers that hide a wealth of surprises.

At the exhibition, we’ll look for sketches that the artist has hidden deep beneath the paint and ink. We’ll also track down traces of brushes, hands, and special painting guns (airbrushes). We’ll also see how screen printing works on canvas. It’s an extraordinary technique that allows you to imprint various patterns like giant stamps!

After visiting the exhibition, we’ll head to the education room and create our own “onion-layered” artworks. We’ll start with the base—making drawings and colorful collages. Then we’ll add one more layer on top. Using the screen printing method, we’ll print a unique graphic that we’ve prepared especially for this session.

Important note: We’ll be using real paint during the workshop! For this reason, we strongly encourage you to wear clothes you don’t mind getting dirty, or to bring a comfortable change of clothes with you.

 

Your workshop ticket grants you admission to the exhibition (up to 3 hours after the start of the class).

 

Natalia Suska – educator at the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw. A graduate of the Faculty of Artistic Research at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw. In art, she is interested in community practices and sisterhood, and in everyday life, she enjoys reading books.