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Thursday, December 27, 2018
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Internationally acclaimed lithographer less known at home Artist makes the world safer
By Jayne Foster Editor
“For all that he has accomplished, he is better known in the UK, Europe, Asia, Japan and Australia than here in Saskatchewan and Canada,” says the curator of a show featuring a Nik Semenoff, a long-time Saskatoon printmaker. Alchemy – Life Works of a Master Printmaker is showing at the Chapel Gallery until Jan. 27. It
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features the art of a master who is, in typically Canadian fashion, less known in his home territory than internationally. Paul Constable, curator, says Semenff is not only a “master printmaker, he is an inventor, jeweller/ goldsmith, painter, drawer, model maker, sculptor and more.” Constable, a landscape artist living and working in Saskatoon, says, “As a fellow artist I have known Nik Semenoff for many years and have been there at pinnacle moments in the development of his printmaking inventions and, of course, his artwork, that are changing printmaking for the 21st century.” Semenoff is not only a master printmaker, says Constable, he has developed and implemented new technology in printing and printmaking that has made work and art safer for people around the world, as well as for the environment, replacing harsh, toxic chemicals and oil-based inks with salts, natural materials, photocopier toner and even household products. He was an underdog when it came to forcing change on an archaic art practice; old ways made it hard to accept new and bet-
Alchemy – Life Works of a Master Printmaker is showing at the Chapel Gallery until Jan. 27. It features the art of Nik Semenoff, a master who is, in typically Canadian fashion, less known in his home territory than internationally. Photo by Paul Constable
ter ways of doing the same thing, Constable explains. But now his innovations are used throughout the world. Semenoff, who was born in Arelee in 1928, describes himself as a retired printmaker who spent most of his life in art, first as a commercial artist for a printing plant, then art director of a television station and finally as media specialist and teacher at a university. “Over the years I have painted, produced gold and silver jewelry, dabbled in electronics and all the time
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many university print departments as guest artist to show his methods. “I have been to Hong Kong and to Japan twice to show my processes,” says Semenoff. “In 2008, I was invited to give workshops and lectures in Ireland and the UK.” Since retiring from the University of Saskatchewan in 1992, he holds the position of artist-inresidence with the department of art and art history. In 2006, he was given an Honorary Doctor of Letter Degree for his work in innovative printmaking.
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held a deep appreciation for printmaking, especially lithography,” says Semenoff. “I have a high regard for science, loved chemistry and physics at school, but the thought of doing serious mathematical calculation put me into a serious sweat. I chose the easier path of drawing ideas instead of calculating.” Semenoff is indeed known world wide. He has been to a number of international printmaking conferences where he demonstrated and presented papers on he processes and has been invited to
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He is in the University of Toronto’s Canadian Who’s Who and was given the Saskatchewans Arts Board Lifetime Award for Excellence in the Arts of 1999. Semenoff says, “I try to print everyday, but this is hard with other interests like keeping up websites, producing CDs and doing research.” Constable says he is honoured to be the curator of Semenoff’s exhibition of artworks. “As curator, I was entrusted to go through his life’s work to pull together Continued on Page 11
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