Printed Matter is proud to present an extensive exhibit of artist books by Canadian pioneering conceptual artist, Garry Neill Kennedy, who from 1967 to 1990 was also the President of the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design. The show, curated by Adam O’Reilly, will present over 100 of Kennedy’s artist’s books as well as accompanying posters, silkscreen prints, photos, and ephemera. The exhibition will run April 12th-May 30th at the Printed Matter storefront. Please join us for a launch on Thursday, April 12th, 6-8 PM.

Kennedy’s double life as an art administrator had a significant influence on his artwork, with his sharp wit and humor, the books in this exhibit range from institutional critiques, political and social investigations, to appropriated New Yorker cartoons.

The exhibit will correspond with a double book launch the same night, including Kennedy’s brand new “The Last Art College”:catalog/30820 (MIT Press), a 480 pg. tome that methodically documents a high production decade of the now legendary Nova Scotia College of Art and Design. We are also pleased to launch “GARRY NEILL KENNEDY: Printed Matter / Imprimés, 1971– 2009”:catalog/30927 (National Gallery of Canada) a catalog raisonne of hundreds of Kennedy’s artist books, many of which will be featured in the exhibition opening the same night.

The Last Art College, Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, 1968-1978

Garry Neill Kennedy 2012 MIT Press, 480 pages.



How did a small art college in Nova Scotia become the epicenter of art education–and to a large extent of the postmimimalist and conceptual art world itself–in the 1960s and 1970s? Like the unorthodox experiments and rich human resources that made Black Mountain College an improbable center of art a generation earlier, the activities and artists at Nova Scotia College of Art and Design (aka NSCAD) in the 1970s redefined the means and methods of art education and the shape of art far beyond Halifax.


A partial list of visiting artists and faculty members at NSCAD would include Joseph Beuys, Sol LeWitt, Gerhard Richter, Dan Graham, Mel Bochner, Lucy Lippard, John Baldessari, Hans Haacke, Yvonne Rainer, Robert Frank, Jenny Holzer, Robert Morris, Eric Fischl, and Dara Birnbaum. Kasper Koenig and Benjamin Buchloh ran the NSCAD Press, publishing books by Hollis Frampton, Lawrence Weiner, Donald Judd, Daniel Buren, Michael Asher, Martha Rosler, and Michael Snow, among others. The Lithography Workshop produced early works by many of today’s masters, including John Baldessari, Vito Acconci, and Claes Oldenburg. With The Last Art College, Garry Kennedy, the college’s visionary president at the time, gives us the long-awaited documentary history of NSCAD during a formative era.


From gallery openings to dance performances to visiting lectures to exhibitions to classroom projects, the book gives a rich historical and visual account of the school’s activities, supplemented by details of specific events, reminiscences by faculty and students, accounts of artists’ talks, and notes on memorable controversies.

GARRY NEILL KENNEDY: Printed Matter / Imprimés, 1971– 2009

Garry Neill Kennedy 2012, National Gallery of Canada, 200 pp.



Produced in consultation with Garry Neill Kennedy, this publication includes printed matter designed by, or in collaboration with, the artist and incorporates formats such as books, pamphlets, leaflets, sheets, cards, pageworks, posters, and wallpaper. Each entry, arranged chronologically, includes a photograph of the item and a physical description with the title, date, format, binding (where applicable), printing method, pagination, dimensions, publisher, and place of publication. The entries are followed by descriptive notes, which provide more detail on production techniques, as well as valuable new information supplied by the artist. References to published material are listed at the end of each entry. The bibliography consists of a list of critical works on Kennedy, as well as articles relating to his role as president of the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design. Edited by Peter Trepanier.

For more information, please contact Adam O’Reilly at (212) 925-0325 or adam@printedmatter.org