Michael Kessler

Michael Kessler was born in Hanover, PA in 1954. He received a B.F.A. from Kutztown University. He currently lives and works in Santa Fe, NM. In 1977 he participated in the Whitney Independent Study Program in the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York. He also received a Pollock/Krasner Award for painting in 1992. He is known for his abstract paintings of nature beneath glossy finishes. His work is currently on display in over 24 museum collections all over the U.S. His most well known works contain organic backgrounds layered with squares and rectangles shot through with acrylics, varnishes, and gesso.

"Kessler seems to feed off his colors'saturation; when he departs from it, as in the less exhilarating ecru etudes, he loses his bearings. It is as if he senses that in the great battle his work chronicles, nature always wins; the best humanity can do is live—and paint—with intensity"(ARTNews 2005).


"It is an unlikely updating of Hans Hofmann, this skillfully modulated push-and-pull between the polar drives to surmount nature and to surrender to it, rather like ancient ruins, toppled and overgrown with vines. Kessler’s ruins are his immaculate geometries, cancer-eaten by lichenlike tendrils that spread across and penetrate into the thickly built-up paint. There is something poignant in this" (ARTNews 2005).


When I first started formulating ideas for my project I took a lot of inspiration from all different kinds of art. Painting as well as film were two of my biggest influences. I enjoy Kesslers' view of nature and how abstracted it is. When you first look at the pieces it is hard to tell what you're looking at sometimes and then you realize you're looking at a tree branch or a leaf. That's what I'm trying to accomplish with my images. And I think in some pieces that idea is stronger than others. In the second quote the critic describes the struggle to overpower nature or surrender to it. I enjoy the idea of surrendering to nature and letting yourself get lost in it and overall just appreciating the world around you that you take for granted.

http://www.geoform.net/features/features_kessler.html

www.allentownartmuseum.org

http://michaelkessler.com/