Title

Michael Kempson: Beauty and banality.

Venues

Michael Nagy Fine Art [2]. (23 September 2006 – 14 October 2006)

Date

(2006)

Summary

Single-artist exhibition. Located: Australia (NSW). Prints.

Country of context

Australia

Abstract

An exhibition of  new works entitled ‘Beauty and Banality’  by artist Michael Kempson, Director of the custom printmaking Cicada Press at Cofa, will be shown at Michael Nagy Fine Art in Woollahra opening at 6.00pm on Thursday 28 September and continuing until 14 October 2006.  Michael Kempson’s extensive background in drawing and print related practice informs his individual studio based research, exploring the concept of beauty and banality through the medium of printmaking. He focuses on the graphic potential of urban and suburban metaphors using the paradigm of personal narrative.

Chris O’Doherty aka Reg Mombassa comments on Michael’s work:
“They say that you can’t polish a turd, and they also say that shit doesn’t sell, but Michael Kempson’s new show of recent etchings will prove both aphorisms to be horribly wrong. Michael’s turds are so finely rendered that any lingering metaphorical stench is nullified by artistry.

This suite of etchings deals with detritus of the modern world. – Coke bottes, batteries and turds of many varieties and the vexed relationships that exist between the natural world and the products we derive from it. His sensitive treatment of the coke bottles also raises an interesting conundrum, because while the coke bottle represents both American cultural imperialism and a particularly ruthless and powerful global corporation, it is also a beautiful and functional example of industrial design.

There is an interesting tension between the contemporary subject matter and the steadiness of hand and fine lines of an 18^th century engraver with which Michael carves his plates. He brings an element of levity and absurdist humour to material that could bed depressing in the hands of a more earnest practitioner.”

Chris O’Doherty aka Reg Mombassa
'Sydney based creator of art, design and music while performing the role of intermittent social conscience'.
September 2006

Senior lecturer, Printmaking Coordinator and Director of Cicada Press, Michael Kempson has exhibited widely in Australia and overseas. His work is represented many prominent collections, including the Art Gallery of NSW, National Gallery of Australia, Art Gallery of South Australia, Old Parliament House, Macquarie University, NSW, College of Fine Arts, University of NSW, the Sir William Dobell Foundation, Art Bank, Qantas Airways, Commonwealth Bank and many more. [ Michael Nagy Fine Art PR].