You are invited to PRINTED IN AUSTRALIA at Spot81 PRINTED IN AUSTRALIA Book launch & Exhibition 3 – 14 August Drinks with the artists and book launch Saturday 6 August, 3 to 5pm PRINTED IN AUSTRALIA is designed and published by 10 Group, with a foreword by Akky van Ogtrop, Curator & art historian and President of the Print Council of Australia SPOT81 81 Abercrombie Street, Chippendale, NSW, 2008 T 61 2 9690 0655 E  info@spot81.com   W  spot81.comGallery Hours: Wednesday to Sunday, 11am – 5pmDirector: Michelle Perry The book and exhibition feature works by INDIVIDUAL ARTISTS Suzanne Archer, Terry Barrett, Kate Briscoe, Ruth Burgess, Seong Cho, Neilton Clarke, Charles Cooper, Christina Cordero, Barbara A Davidson, David Fairbairn, Mirabel Fitzgerald, Helen Geier, Robyn Gordon, Craig Gough, Roslyn Kean, Wendy Kelly, Michael Kempson, Jasper Knight, Graham Kuo, Alun Leach-Jones, Sandra Leveson, Dianne Longley, Seraphina Martin, John Robinson, Luke Sciberras, Martin Sharp, Ben Soedradjit, Wendy Stavrianos, Madeleine Tuckfield-Carrano, Mark Ward, Madeleine Winch, Tim Winters WORKSHOPS & SOCIETIES Agave Print Studio, Basil Hall Editions, Cicada Press, Falls Gallery Editions, Grip Editions, Marnling Press, Open Bite Printmakers, Sydney Printmakers, Whaling Road StudioWorks shown above, clockwise from top left, are by Michael Kempson, Linda Galbraith, Anne Starling, Salvatore Gerardi, David Fairbairn and Kate BriscoeAs part of the 50th anniversary celebrations of the Print Council of Australia, 2016 is designated the ‘Year of Print’, a special year, commemorating the history of printmaking in Australia since the 1960s.  It is therefore a very opportune moment to celebrate this publication on innovative printmaking and printmakers.In the early twentieth century printmaking was rarely seen as an artist’s main focus. Instead it tended to be a peripheral activity, secondary to painting or sculpture. This changed in the 1960s and 70s.  Frequently referred to as the decade when the print came of age, the 1960s witnessed the emergence of printmaking as a mainstream art form in Australia, when printmaking in the art world moved to centre stage.  A large touring exhibition, the Australian Print Survey 1963, was the culmination of these explorative years. Organised by the then Senior Curator of Australian Art, Daniel Thomas AM, for the Art Gallery of New South Wales, the exhibition was seen by both artists and the public as the official acceptance of printmaking by the art and collecting world.This development encouraged artists to explore the potential of printmaking and use it to produce works which represented major breakthroughs as creative statements, placing print, arguably for the first time, as a primary means of expression. It meant that the boundaries that once defined printmaking began to blur. From the experiments of the 1960s,  printmaking developed in many new directions.Recognizing that prints are a natural extension of their existing practices, many of the artists featured in this publication have taken advantage of new ideas and technologies. The print medium  became a  central part of their activity, the equal of their output in other media, conceived as integral or complementary to it. I hope that this publication will raise awareness in the culture of printmaking as a more visible art form  than ever before. Akky van Ogtrop Art Historian / Curator Also, join us in the gallery for a glass of wine and final viewing of Emanuel Raft’s beautifully evocative exhibition, The Noise of Silence, this Sunday 31 August from 4pm Shown above: ‘Untitled No 5’, Acrylic on canvas, 106 x 106cm Copyright © 2016 Spot81, All rights reserved.