Artwork
Promenade
Promenade is an ink print by Charlie Billingham. It dates from 2014 and is held in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum.
About this work
Each year, they pick one fine art grad from eight London colleges to make a limited print.
This is a screenprint called Promenade, made in 2014 by Charlie Billingham. It came out of a special prize run by Jealous Print Studio. Each year, they pick one fine art grad from eight London colleges to make a limited print.
The prize gives winners a paid printmaking residency. Then their work goes into a group show and the V&A gets to keep every print.
Check out the Victoria and Albert Museum for more prints like this.
Overview
Promenade is a 2014 screenprint created by Charlie Billingham as part of the Jealous Print Studio Graduate Prize. The initiative selects one graduating MA Fine Art student from each of eight London art institutions, offering them a fully funded residency to produce a limited-edition print. Billingham’s work was included in the annual group exhibition and subsequently acquired by the Victoria and Albert Museum as part of its permanent print collection.
Subject & Meaning
The print depicts a stylized scene of figures in period dress, evoking 18th- and 19th-century satirical traditions. Billingham draws on the visual language of caricaturists like Cruikshank and Gillray, using exaggerated forms and muted tones to explore the performative nature of social rituals. The title, Promenade, suggests a public display of manners and identity, inviting reflection on how historical norms continue to shape contemporary behavior.
Technique & Style
Executed as a screenprint, the work employs layered ink applications to achieve subtle tonal shifts and flat, graphic contours. Billingham’s style blends historical references with a deliberate modern restraint, avoiding overt irony in favor of quiet ambiguity. The composition’s precision and muted palette reflect an engagement with printmaking’s capacity for both reproduction and reinterpretation of visual culture.
History & Provenance
Charlie Billingham completed his MA at Edinburgh College of Art and earned a Postgraduate Diploma from the Royal Academy Schools in 2013. In 2014, he was selected for the Jealous Print Studio Graduate Prize, which led to the creation of Promenade during a residency at their London studio. The print was included in the annual exhibition and donated to the V&A’s collection, where it remains part of a curated series documenting emerging British printmakers.
Context
The Jealous Print Studio Graduate Prize emerged in 2009 to support emerging artists by bridging fine art practice with printmaking expertise. By partnering with major London art schools and donating each year’s editions to the V&A, the program established a lasting archive of contemporary British printmaking. Billingham’s inclusion reflects a broader trend of artists revisiting historical visual forms to interrogate cultural continuity and representation.
Legacy
Promenade contributes to an ongoing dialogue between historical satire and contemporary art practice. As part of the V&A’s permanent collection, it ensures wider access to work by emerging artists who engage critically with tradition. The print exemplifies how institutional support can sustain meaningful connections between past and present visual languages, preserving experimental approaches within established collections.
Artist & collection
Artist
Charlie Billingham makes screenprints with a sharp, graphic edge. In Promenade (2014), bold colors and flat shapes flatten a parade of figures into a rhythmic line. The print’s flatness and repetition feel like a…
