Cressida Rosemary Campbell (born 8 July 1960) is an Australian artist.

Early life and education

Cressida Rosemary Campbell was born on 8 July 1960 in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

to Ruth and Ross Campbell. She studied at

East Sydney Technical College The National Art School (NAS) is a tertiary level art school, located in , an inner-city suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The school is an independent accredited higher education provider offering specialised study in studio arts p ...

in 1978 and 1979. Her older sister is actress

Nell Campbell Laura Elizabeth Campbell (born 24 May 1953), better known as Nell Campbell or by her stage name Little Nell, is an Australian actress, singer, and former club owner. She is best known for her role as Columbia in the 1975 film ''The Rocky Horror ...

Career

Campbell held her first solo show in Sydney in 1979. Campbell spent several weeks at the Yoshida Hanga Academy in Tokyo in 1985. From this she learned how to lead the eye around the picture plane using composition. Through the 1990s and the 2000s, she showed work with Rex Irwin Art Dealer. Since 1994 she has shown with Phillip Bacon Galleries in Brisbane who is considered to be her prime dealer. Later Campbell worked with the Sophie Gannon gallery in Melbourne. She exhibited in London in 2001 (when

Germaine Greer Germaine Greer (; born 29 January 1939) is an Australian writer and feminist, regarded as one of the major voices of the second-wave feminism movement in the latter half of the 20th century. Specializing in English and women's literature, she ...

introduced her at the opening) and 2003. A major exhibition surveying her work was held at the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra from September 2022 though to February 2023. It was the highest attended exhibition for a living artist in Australian history. Her technique has centered on carving and painting her woodblocks in preparation for hand-printing them. An image is drawn on wood, carved, then painted with up to three coats of paint. It is then wetted and a single print is made. The block is repainted briefly to replace any significant loss of detail, the print is then hand painted for up to a period of months to create a fully resolved artwork. Two artworks are therefore created - one on paper, and one on wood. Her work emphasizes colour and design. It echoes the flattened picture plane of Japanese

ukiyo-e is a genre of Japanese art that flourished from the 17th through 19th centuries. Its artists produced woodblock printing, woodblock prints and Nikuhitsu-ga, paintings of such subjects as female beauties; kabuki actors and sumo wrestlers; scenes ...

-prints, whilst being anchored in contemporary Australia. The Japanese artist

Kitagawa Utamaro was a Japanese artist. He is one of the most highly regarded designers of ukiyo-e woodblock prints and paintings, and is best known for his ''Bijin-ga, bijin ōkubi-e'' "large-headed pictures of beautiful women" of the 1790s. He also produ ...

is one of several artists who have influenced her work. Campbell exhibits prints and hand painted woodblocks as artworks in their own right. One of Campbell's woodblocks was sold at the highest price for a living Australian women artist in 2022. Campbell's technique is based on 'white line' printmaking, a technique pioneered by the

Provincetown Printers Provincetown Printers were a group of artists, most of them women, who created art using woodblock printing techniques in Provincetown, Massachusetts during the early 20th-century. It was the first group of its kind in the United States, developed ...

of Massachusetts in 1913. She is described as following in the footsteps of

Margaret Preston Margaret Rose Preston (29 April 1875 – 28 May 1963) was an Australian painter, printmaker and writer on art who is regarded as one of Australia's leading modernists of the early 20th century. In her quest to foster an Australian "national ...

and Thea Proctor. She created a suite of painted woodblocks to celebrate the life and home of Campbell's friend and fellow artist,

Margaret Olley Margaret Hannah Olley (24 June 192326 July 2011) was an Australian painter. She held over ninety solo exhibitions during her lifetime. Early life Margaret Olley was born in Lismore, New South Wales. She was the eldest of three children of J ...

Recognition and honours

Campbell was appointed a

Member of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

in the

2024 Australia Day Honours The 2024 Australia Day Honours are appointments to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by Australian citizens. The list was announced on 26 January 2024 by the Governor General of Australia, David Hurley. The Australi ...

for "significant service to the visual arts". Two photos of Campbell are featured in the

National Portrait Gallery National Portrait Gallery may refer to: * National Portrait Gallery (Australia), in Canberra * National Portrait Gallery (Sweden), in Mariefred *National Portrait Gallery (United States), in Washington, D.C. *National Portrait Gallery, London ...

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

Personal life

In 1991 Campbell married Peter Crayford (1951-2011), who had ongoing health problems, which caused them to decide against having children. Since 2001 she has lived in the Sydney suburb of Bronte, in her home studio. In April 2022 she married fine art printer and photographer Warren Macris.

Selected exhibitions

Solo: *''Cressida Campbell'', survey exhibition, 24 Sep 2022 – 19 Feb 2023, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra *''Timeless: The art of Cressida Campbell'', 10 January – 22 February 2009, National Trust S H Ervin Gallery, Sydney *''Cressida Campbell'', 7–22 July 2005, Nevill Keating Pictures, London *''Cressida Campbell (Masks, Paintings and Things)'', 29 September – 14 October 1979, Hogarth Galleries, Paddington, NSW Group: *''Cutting Through Time—Cressida Campbell, Margaret Preston, and the Japanese Print'', 18 May - 28 July 2024,

Geelong Gallery Geelong Gallery, formerly known as Geelong Art Gallery, is a major regional gallery in the city of Geelong in Victoria, Australia. The Gallery forms Geelong's Cultural Precinct, along with the adjacent Geelong Library and Heritage Centre (Geelong ...

, Geelong, Victoria *''Preview for Dalia Stanley Auctioneers'', 4 August 1995 - 5 August 1995, Mary Place Gallery, Paddington, NSW *''Speaking of Women'', 8 March 1995 - 8 June 1995, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney *''Sydney prints: 45 years of the Sydney Printmakers'', S.H. Ervin Gallery (19 August 2006 – 24 September 2006), Hawkesbury Regional Gallery (9 February 2007 – 11 March 2007) and Tamworth Regional Gallery (24 March 2007 – 29 April 2007) * ''Transformations: Australian Perspecta '85: Project 50,'' 24 October 1985, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney

Collections

Campbell's work is held in the following collections: *

Art Gallery of New South Wales The Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW), founded as the New South Wales Academy of Art in 1872 and known as the National Art Gallery of New South Wales between 1883 and 1958, is located in The Domain, Sydney, Australia. It is the most import ...

National Gallery of Australia The National Gallery of Australia (NGA), formerly the Australian National Gallery, is the national art museum of Australia as well as one of the largest art museums in Australia, holding more than 166,000 works of art. Located in Canberra in th ...

(NGA) NGA director Nick Mitzevich said in 2022 that Campbell was among the most privately collected artists of Australia.

References

External links

*
Cressida Campbell
at the

database {{DEFAULTSORT:Campbell, Cressida 1960 births Australian women artists Living people Artists from Sydney National Art School alumni Members of the Order of Australia Women's Art Register artists