Amos Paul Kennedy, Jr.: Citizen Printer

About Amos Paul Kennedy, Jr.

Amos Paul Kennedy, Jr., was working a corporate job when, at nearly forty, he discovered the art of letterpress printing on a tour of Colonial Williamsburg. Kennedy then devoted himself to the craft, earning an MFA in graphic design at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He now operates Kennedy Prints!, a letterpress printshop in Detroit. He has been featured in outlets like Hyperallergic, the New York Times, and the Economist, and he has exhibited in dozens of museums and galleries across the United States, including Poster House, the Brooklyn Public Library, the Library of Congress, and the libraries of the Museum of Modern Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

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Contents

Foreword Austin Kleon • 11
My Manifesto Amos Paul Kennedy, Jr. • 12
Lessons from the School of Bad Printing Amos Paul Kennedy, Jr. • 17

ESSAYS • 40

Incorrigible Disturber of the Peace! Ink & Equity! Myron M. Beasley • 43
Amos Paul Kennedy, Jr., & the Legacy of Black Printing in American Kelly Walters • 58

SOCIAL JUSTICE • 83

SHARED WISDOM • 172

COMMUNITY • 241

Notes • 284
Index • 285
Credits • 288
Acknowledgements • 289

Praise

“Amos Paul Kennedy, Jr., is not only one of the country’s most gifted and prolific printmakers but also a major historian and theorist of print as democratic art. Like an antislavery broadsheet or country almanack, Citizen Printer is an overflowing compendium of biography and philosophy, jokes and arguments, sage advice and visionary manifestos. While ample reproductions showcase work from across Kennedy’s storied career, the essays and book design activate the joy of printing as a social experience. Readers will discover the meaning of citizenship in the grain of paper, the viscosity of ink, the weight of type.”
— Chris Dingwall, Assistant Professor of Design History, Washington University in St. Louis

“Amos Kennedy, Jr. is both a poet and printer. For Amos, language functions as action, and he has spent a career making words move.... [A] vital and timely monograph, Citizen Printer features more than 800 reproductions representing the breadth of Kennedy’s letterpress works. At a time of global social and political upheavals and conflicts, an artist dedicated to making art accessible and available to all isn’t just an essential practice but one of the important acts of resistance we have.”
— Juxtapoz

“Disregarding all memos that print is dead, Amos Paul Kennedy, Jr., churns out vibrant, cacophonous, biting, witty, revolutionary, and joyous notices that cut through the visual void and inform the viewer of everything from okra festivals to gay pride parades. His posters are evidence that one doesn’t need to adhere to the rules of ‘good design’ to make damn good design.”
— Angelina Lippert, Executive Director & Curator, Poster House

“Amos Paul Kennedy, Jr., self-described citizen printer, is our visionary treasure, our creative freedom-fighter, our promise, and our partner. His sledgehammer of choice is letterpress printing, and his prints urge us to voyage away from the cold reality of the world we inhabit into worlds that could be or should be but are not yet.”
— Bill Ayers, cofounder of the Weather Underground and author of Demand the Impossible! and When Freedom Is the Question, Abolition Is the Answer

“Amos Paul Kennedy’s work is an expression of hope and a simultaneous poke in the eye meant to activate the forgotten instruments of change and recover the lost language of American idealism. This CITIZEN PRINTER amplifies the truth and provides clarity on the contradictions of our times.”
— Rick Griffith, designer, printer. MATTER

Details

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Inside Citizen Printer

“Amos Paul Kennedy, Jr.: Citizen Printer” Runs June 29, 2024 – January 2025

Amos Paul Kennedy, Jr. on Tour!

Get a chance to meet Amos as he travels the country over the next few months. More dates and details to come. Join our email list for updates.