Michael C. Kessler
Michael C. Kessler (born October 23, 1954) is an American artist. He currently lives and works in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Art
Kessler makes nature-based abstract paintings that merge geometric elements with Biomorphism. He began his art career as a landscape artist. Influenced by the abstract art movement in New York City during the 1960's and 70's he began experimenting with his own work. His paintings soon became fully non-objective. Kessler paints by pulling thin, translucent layers of acrylic paint across the surface. The layers build up and form patterns similar to those in nature, such as veins in a leaf or ripples in the sand. It is a laborious process, which requires many passes, sometimes as many as 100 layers on a single painting.
In 1991 after returning from a year in Italy (via. the Rome Prize) Kessler became very involved with large-scale, site-specific installations. Gallery owner Chris Schmidt (Schmidt/Dean Gallery, Philadelphia) worked with Kessler to initiate this project by obtaining a commission from Senator Arlen Specter for Kessler's first site-specific work which was installed in Senator Specter's office at the Hart Senate Office Building in Washington, D.C. Kessler went on to produce many such projects.
Education
Bachelors of Fine Arts degree from Kutztown University.
Kessler attended the Independent Study Programat the Whitney Museum of American Art
Awards
Winner of the Rome Prize, 1991
Winner of the Pollock-Krasner Award, 1992
Winner of the "Awards in the Visual Arts-5" grant in painting, 1985
Winner of the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts grant in painting, 1983
Public Collections
His paintings are held in twenty five museum collections including:
The Brooklyn Museum
The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston
The Broad Art Foundation in Los Angeles
The New Museum in New York City
Gallery Exhibtions
Since 1983 his paintings have been shown in over two hundred exhibitions throughout the United States and Europe.
Five solo shows at the Jack Tilton Gallery in New York City.
Solo Exhibition at the Ann Korologos Gallery in Basalt, Colorado (Gallery is owned by former Secretary of Labor, Ann Korologos).
Gallery Bienvenu, New Orleans, Louisiana
Madison Gallery, LaJolla, California
Paia Contemporary Gallery, Maui, Hawaii
SchmidtDean Gallery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Lanoue Fine Art, Boston, Massachusetts
Critical Reviews
Kessler's paintings have been featured in numerous art publications
References
Video - A Painting in the Making
New Work, New York, Outside New York at the New Museum
Geoform interview by Julie Karabenick
Art News review by Richard Speer
External links
Michael Kessler at Gallery MAR
Rome Prize article in the Reading Eagle
"Cool Violence in Layers of Glowing Technicolor", the Morning Call
"Year in Italy Catapults Kessler's Work", Chicago Tribune