It is possible to trace back the evolution of printmaking in Antioquia as an standalone technique of artistic expression by doing a careful review of the history of the Printmaking Workshop of the Institute of Fine Arts of the University of Antioquia, founded by Aníbal Gil in 1960, when the university campus had not yet been built; he was tied to the workshop until the year 1976.
Gil was an active promoter of printmaking in Antioquia by successfully delving into the specificity of the different techniques, most notably his research work on lithography, a technique that he rescued from obscurity and basically reinvented by virtue of a rigorous experimentation that he always balanced between trial and error. In September 1968, he promoted the first exhibition of his students in the halls of the Zea Museum, today’s Museo de Antioquia. Between 1964 and 1975, the Institute of Fine Arts of the University of Antioquia opened the doors to a great generation of young artists: Ángela María Restrepo, Teresita de la Cruz, María Elena Londoño, Fabio Pareja, Yomaira Posada, Ofelia Restrepo, Hugo Zapata, Dorié Acosta, Gloria Escobar, Miriam Londoño, Armando Londoño and Fabián Rendón, among other names who committed themselves to printmaking as an artistic language and revealed a true calling for this craft.
Some of them eventually gained notoriety through outstanding exhibitions in the local, national and international art scene; others established independent studios; and others became professors in universities and museums of the city. It can be asserted that the Printmaking Studio was and remains the starting point of a history of printmaking in Antioquia
