An artist, educator and independent curator, Ben Rak was born in California, USA (1978) and grew up in Israel. He is presently working and living in Sydney (Australia), where he lectures at the University of New South Wales Art & Design and the Australian National University School of Art in Canberra. He is the co-founder and director of Throwdown Press, a residency based print facility, which invites artists with no prior print experience to produce etchings and silkscreens in an attempt to create discourse on the role of printmaking within contemporary practice. Rak holds a BFA in printmaking (2008) with first class honors (2009) and an MFA (2013) all from The University Of New South Wales. Rak has also fostered international dialogue by curating exchange exhibitions between Sydney based artists and multiple international institutions. Rak’s recent practice explores ideas of authenticity by utilizing the print to examine the connections between reproduction, repetition, authorship and ownership. How can the print be used as metaphor to scrutinize authenticity in the age of mass production?
