Our history

For over 35 years Piper Press has showcased leading Australian artists and art writers through books that are meticulously designed and edited to make contemporary art accessible and inspiring for all. Piper Press titles are distributed to booksellers across Australia and New Zealand by NewSouth Books.

Founders Margaret Bishop and John Dunn had successful careers in art education and curriculum development when they established Piper Press, seeing a need to represent the under-represented: women artists, and mid-career and Indigenous artists through quality publications and partnerships with galleries, curators, academics and respected writers. Among their first works were those on then-emerging artists Tracey Moffatt and Fiona Hall in the 1990s.

Specialising in beautifully produced artist monographs, Piper Press has published illustrated non-fiction books on many of Australia's successful artists including Tracey Moffatt, Fiona Hall, Del Kathryn Barton, Julie Rrap, Patricia Piccinini, Rosemary Laing, Bronwyn Oliver, William Robinson, Euan Macleod and more. We have also published books on architecture, photography and photographers, Asian art, and the performing arts. They were instrumental in the Save Our Sirius campaign in which thousands of people were mobilised to prevent the destruction of the notable Sirius building in Millers Point, Sydney. In raising awareness for the campaign, John and Margaret helped to curate an art exhibition, regular events and marches, and published SIRIUS: a beautiful book to document the character and lives of the people who live there. The campaign saved the building and raised awareness about the continued need for well designed social housing in Sydney.

SIRIUS is now an essential aspect of architectural education and a demonstration of architectural activism. The book was awarded the NSW Australian Institute of Architects 2020 Adrian Ashton Prize for Architectural Culture & Literature and was a Finalist for the National Gallery of Victoria's International Cornish Family Prize for Art and Design Publishing. With the global pandemic behind us, we look forward to an exciting future.

Our focus

Piper Press takes a keen interest in women artists, Indigenous Australian artists, both emerging and established artists, contemporary and Asian art, architecture and design, photography, art practice and art history. 

We work on custom publications for galleries, architectural firms and artists with the benefit of an excellent distribution partner in New South Books, to ensure great books reach readers in good quality bookshops.

2023 onwards

In late 2023, Piper Press entered a new phase under the ownership of long-time collaborators Alexei Mazin and Kathryn Franco. Guided during the transition by Margaret and John, the press continues its commitment to artists, writers and institutional partners while expanding its program in artist monographs, architecture, design and photography publishing.

Alexei Mazin is an artist, educator and media technologist serving as editor and director of Piper Press. Educated at the National Art School, the City Art Institute at the University of New South Wales and the University of Sydney, he is a Wynne Prize finalist (1973). He taught visual arts for more than two decades and later lectured in art history and visual arts at the University of Sydney and Australian Catholic University. In the 1990s he led film and video programs at KvB College (now Raffles College) and established Sydney’s first Avid Training Centre for non-linear film and television editing. Over the past twenty years he has worked as an entrepreneur and specialist in broadcast and video technologies.

Kathryn Franco is a retail, publishing and digital strategy professional with experience across film, television, editorial and e-commerce. She holds a First Class Honours in Arts from the University of Sydney and an MBA from the Australian Graduate School of Management at UNSW. She began her career at Kennedy Miller Film Company, working in post-production and script development, before becoming a researcher and producer for the Nine Network’s Sunday Program. Kathryn later moved into digital publishing leadership roles, overseeing editorial, content and commerce teams across major Australian retail organisations. A Webby Award winner and four-time W3 Award recipient, she supports the development and editorial direction of new Piper Press titles and products.