The Art of Cicada Press

27 January to 5 March 2016

Selected prints from the collection of Cicada Press, at the University of New South Wales Art & Design, produced collaboratively with the Cicada Press master printmaker and respected artists:

Vernon Ah Kee, Tony Albert, Nudge Blacklock, Doris Bush Nungarrayi, Matthew Calandra, Michael Callaghan, Adam Cullen, Elisabeth Cummings, Louise Daniels, Ian Grant, Fiona Hall, Nicholas Harding, Norman Hetherington, Suze Heymans, Cherry Hood, Locust Jones, Michael Kempson, Euan Macleod, Isobel Major, Noel McKenna, Martha MacDonald Napaltjarri, Gregory O’Brien, Chris O’Doherty aka Reg Mombassa, Jason Phu, John Pule, Ben Quilty, Reko Rennie, Punata Stockman Nungurrayi, Ann Thomson, Guy Warren, Marshall Weber, Dame Robin White, Adeel uz Zafar, Raymond Zada.

The artists invited to work at Cicada Press generously allocate a small number of prints to Cicada Press to generate income to maintain existing infrastructure or fund future research projects.

Cicada Press was founded by Michael Kempson in 2004 at UNSW Art & Design to facilitate student contact and experience in traditional fine art printmaking practice. Cicada Press is not a commercial operation, it is a workshop and teaching model with a focus on dialogue, community and experiential learning.
Each semester, between five and ten artists are invited to make prints with the technical support of UNSW staff and students. The artists come from different art making fields and many have no printing experience. The university students develop a working relationship with these artists, who in turn are open and generous enough to welcome the students into their creative process.

Michael Kempson is the Senior Lecturer and Convenor of Printmaking Studies at UNSW Art & Design and is serving as the International Member at Large for the US based Southern Graphics Council International (2014-2016). As Director of Cicada Press he has worked with more than 200 significant Australian and International artists and his curatorial experience has involved 52 exhibitions in Australia and the Asia/Pacific region. As an artist, Kempson has been exhibiting in Australia since 1983 with a total of 26 one-person exhibitions and more than 200 group exhibitions nationally and internationally.

Above: Michael Kempson East and West, 2014, etching and aquatint, edition: 1/20, 68 x 101 cm (print size)