Entry forms for the 2009 Burnie Print Prize are now available. The Prize is an initiative of the Burnie Regional Art Gallery, which in 2006 opened a gallery space dedicated to the display of its growing contemporary print collection. The prize aims to develop the Gallery's print collection, display the best contemporary Australian prints to the public, support print artists and innovation in the field and promote printmaking to the public.

The judges for 2009 are Roger Butler, Senior Curator, Australian Prints & Drawings at the National gallery of Austrlia; Pat Brassington, artist and Exhibition Co-ordinator, Plimsol Gallery, University of Tasmania; and Michael Kempson, Senior Lecturer & Printmaking Co-ordinator , College of Fine Art, University of New South Wales and Director of Cicada Press.

The major prize and additional acquisitions will be announced at the exhibition opening on 26 March 2009 as part of the Ten Days on the Island festival.

The 1st Bangkok Triennale of Prints and Drawings in 2003 attracted 3,975 works from 1,036 artists from 58 countries. The 2nd Triennale will take place later this year. Initial judging will be my images on CD in August. The Triennale is being organised by Silpakorn University, Bangkok. See www.interprint.su.ac.th for details

The new Curator of Australian Prints and Drawings is Sarina Noordhuis-Fairfax, who brings to this role a strong background in visual arts and science. In 1997 she completed a degree in Biomedical Science from the University of Technology, before studying painting and printmaking at the National Art School (2000-2002). In 2004, Sarina moved to Canberra and graduated with First Class Honours in Visual Arts through the Printmedia and Drawing Workshop at the ANU School of Art. 

Since 2005, she has been working in the Australian Prints and Drawings department, and was the Gordon Darling Graduate Intern from 2006-2008. Sarina has assisted with the department’s important program of acquisitions, exhibitions and publications, including the 6^th Australian Print Symposium, the survey exhibition The Story of Australian Printmaking 1801-2005, and two accompanying volumes from the printed series by Roger Butler, and two upcoming publications on Redback Graphix and Australian artist’s books.

Announcing the Best of the Web 2008

an impressive gateway reference site. This is what a reference site should be. It covers a wide territory, with a clearly defined focus, but also covering many aspects of that subject. It includes biographical and institutional information, exhibitions and bibliographies, as well as 45,000 works. The information is simply and clearly presented.

The 2008 Pacific Rim International Print Exhibition, is being presented by the School Of Fine Arts at Christchurch, Aotearoa New Zealand. It is supported by the College of Fine Arts, UC Foundation of the University of Canterbury.

Entries are due on 9 June 2008, emailpacificrimprint@canterbury.ac.nz for details. The exhibition will open on 6 October 2008 at the SOFA Gallery, Arts Centre, Christchurch.

Wollongong City Gallery is hosting a Zine Fair on Sunday 13 April 2008. To register for a table, or more information email Maddy and Natalie at wcgzinefair@gmail.com

John O'Brien (Soul Solutions) will be demonstrating the printsandprintmaking website at this years Museums and the Web Conference that is being held in Montréal, Québec, Canada from 8-12 April 2008. John will present a paper Exploring the National Gallery of Australia online database for prints and printmaking spatially and a workshop Using the Microsoft Virtual Earth API to provide Geographical Access to Cultural Heritage.

Thirty artists associated with the College of Fine Arts UNSW and Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing exhibit recent prints highlighting the diversity and parallels of printmaking today across two cultures.

As you might expect, the Chinese contingent present some stunning prints in the social realist tradition such as Wu Hong's sensitive red and black portraits of peasants, while local larrikin legend Reg Mombassa delivers a distinctive brand of irreverent Aussie humour.

But SILK + SAND also successfully blurs cultural boundaries. For example, both Jane Fontane and Li Fan tap into the bright, bold, consumerist aesthetic of Pop art. In Fontane's large screenprints children morph into giant toy Transformers. Fan's striking pink and red lithograph of a bawling baby's head has the instant iconic impact of a Warhol portrait.

The 15 Australian artists in SILK + SAND all have a close association wit the College of Fine Arts UNSW (COFA) as either staff, students or participants in COFA's unique custom printing research group, Cicada Press, and include many well know painters Elisabeth Cummings, Euan Macleod and Indigneous artist Michael Nelson Jagamara. The 14 Chinese artists are all staff members at the Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing. [COFA blurb]

The exhibition will be at COFA 6March - 12 April 2008 and atvthe Central Academy of Fine Arts Gallery, China in December 2008.

Brisbane artist and former scientist, Glenda Orr, has won the inaugural 2008 Port Jackson Press Australia Annual Graduate Printmaking Award for outstanding originality, creativity and technique. The Award was announced last night in Melbourne at the opening of the Award exhibition.
Laurence Finn from Sydney won the People's choice award, high commended went to Bridget Farmer, Sheridan Jones and Tarli Bird.

Glenda’s winning entry is ‘Forestry’, a 98 x 147 cm triptych etching which is a comment on the perceived cultural superiority of the Europeans and their ability to transform nature into culture.

Glenda’s prize consists of an all expenses paid two week residency at the Port Jackson Press Centre for Australian Printmaking, a $2,000 cash prize and the opportunity to have her new work published by Port Jackson Press Australia. Her published print will subsequently be launched at the gallery and marketed and distributed nationally.

Glenda graduated with Honours in Visual Arts (First Class), Queensland College of Art, Griffith University, Brisbane in 2007. She has also studied Fine Arts majoring in Print Media and Drawing, Photography, Environmental Studies and has a Masters degree in Science.

She says 'Forestry' references the legacy of the problematic history of European settlement. “The axe, a tool, weapon and artefact of the past, is a strong residual signifier of masculinity, power and danger which symbolises the perceived cultural superiority of the Europeans and their ability to transform nature into culture. The axe’s dual nature of steel and wood furthers connotations of nature as commodity, the artificial in the natural, and duplicity in the worlds we inherit and construct,” said Glenda. [PJP media]

Entry forms for the 2008 Fremantle Print Award for prints and artists' books in any print media are now available at printaward@fremantle.wa.gov.au . Entries close on 16 May 2008 and the exhibition will be held at the Fremantle Arts Centre from 23 August - 5 November 2008.

After a recent upload, printsandprintmaking now provides images of 22,179 prints from Australia and the region. All are fully indexwd by artist, technique and date. The images include limited editioned prints, political posters and book arts dating from pre-settlement to the present.

Sydney artist Del Kathryn Barton,  the winner of the 2008 Archibald Prize, has recently been working on a suite of 3 colour lithographs at the Australian Print Workshop in Melbourne. The lithographes are reproduced in the catalogue for her current exhibition  'the whole of everything' at Karen Woodbury Gallery, Melbourne http://www.kwgallery.com.

Craig Peterson, grandson of Lindsay Charles Revill (1898-1976) has written and produced a charming and informative book on the artists life. It includes illustrations of drawings, oil paintings and linocut prints (the linocut Surf, 1948 is in the collection of the National Gallery of Australia). The works mainly focus on the environs of Sydnet and the artists family. If you are interested in acquiring a copy email Craig at craig@handpress.com.au

Entries are invited for the 2008 Southern Cross University aquisitive artist book award. Download an entry form from www.scu.edu.au/schools/arts/visarts/next/index.html  Entries close on Friday 18th July 2008.

Imprint, Volume 43, no.1 August 2008 (the journal of the Print Council of Australia) has 42 pages of information, essays and illustrations for all those interested in Australian prints, digital art, book arts and paper works. A feature on Tasmania discusses the work of Madeleine and Nicolas Goodwolf and Katy Woodroffe; A survey art schools teaching printmaking around Australia (the first of a series to cover all states) is included, as are articles on Damon Kowarsky in Lahore, India, and the Australian Print Workshops 2007 scholarship. There are also book and exhibition reviews and studio news including an article on the Toi  Whakataa Press in Aotearoa New Zealand that supports Maori printmakers.

Entries are now available for the 2008 Silk Cut Award for linocut prints. Entry forms and details are available at www.silkcutlino.com or email silkcutlino@gleneira.vic.au .  The Silk Cut Foudation has also release of a DVD, 'The art of printmaking the Silk Cut way', and has announced enhanced prizes for the award, the Open Award now being $8,000.  Entries for the award close 27 June 2008.