‘The intent is to show here in the United States what is the latest and most current and innovative in Britain’s printmaking.’

The folks at Angels Gate Cultural Center in San Pedro thought about flying the British flag to advertise their exhibition of British art. But they settled for the official UK/LA ’88 logo--half Union Jack and half sunburst--to call attention to their part in the celebration of British arts in Los Angeles.

The citywide “cultural banquet,” as the brochures call it, ranges from the David Hockney retrospective at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art to music and dance, other art shows, films and a visit by the Duke and Duchess of York.

Angels Gate’s part in all of this, through March 6, is a showing of 51 prints by contemporary British artists, which is paired with a smaller collection by American printmakers. The exhibit is displayed on two floors of the center’s gallery, which is just beyond the wire-sculpture angels that greet visitors as they drive up to the collection of former Army barracks that house the cultural center.

Roberta MacFaden-Miller, executive director of the center, said the show is good for Angels Gate “because it is bringing people that don’t usually come here.” She said the show’s “international flavor” reflects the ethnic diversity of San Pedro.

The show also is an opportunity for people to expose themselves to contemporary art, with all of its moods and abstractions, McFaden-Miller said. “It’s not understood because it’s not around, so the more that is shown, the more people will know about it and understand it.”

The show is a result of personal contacts among artists of the Printmakers Council of Great Britain, the Los Angeles Printmaking Society and the California Society of Printmakers. Some were familiar with Angels Gate and thought it would be a good place for the show.

The show already has visited San Francisco and Pacific Grove and will go to Washington after Angels Gate. There also will be a transatlantic exchange when American prints are exhibited in Britain early next year.

“The intent is to show here in the United States what is the latest and most current and innovative in Britain’s printmaking, and also in the reverse situation, to show what American printmakers are doing,” said Jean Burg, vice president of the Los Angeles Printmaking Society.

There is a difference between the general look of British and American prints in the Angels Gate show--the blacks and grays of the British versus the blues and purples of the Americans--which observers attribute to contrasting artistic temperaments.

“California artists have a tendency to deal with light and color in different ways,” Burg said. “The British have a more traditional approach. . . . There is something marvelous about the beautiful black line and graphic image they seem to be able to elaborate on.”

Many of the British prints are abstract and somber, but a series of black and white figures is visible in a work called “Generations,” and there is an unmistakable swirl of grasses against a sea background in “Dunes of Scotland.” The color is startling in a print depicting folded paper of orange and rose.

But for the most part the American work is more cheerful: “It’s colorful, more exciting,” said one gallery visitor.

A variety of print techniques is represented, including silk screen, wood cut, etching and lithography. Most involve a process in which metal plates or stone are engraved or drawn on and prints are made on a press or through other methods of applying pressure.

Burg said printmaking dates back to woodblocks of the 17th Century, adding that the American and British groups in the Angels Gate show represent what grass-roots artists are doing today.

“This is major hands-on work by artists themselves, with artists printing their own works,” she said.