ABOUT THE EXHIBITION

Based in Upstate New York, Karen Gunderson has been using nature as the subject of her paintings for over 50 years. She began with clouds images in the 1960s and since 1988 she has been painting images of nature – in addition to images of historical figures – using shades of black paint.

When asked, “Why black?”, Gunderson states, “Because it is the biggest contrast to the light reflecting on the paintings. When the light shines on the brush marks it describes the process of painting the images as if feeling them in space. Imagine lightly touching and feeling the objects and following their forms with the brush. The energy of the strokes can engage the viewer with a haptic experience – a sense of touch.” She feels her making an experience of light on the black paint feels hopeful.

Gunderson chooses her subjects with an intention of drawing attention to them. Mountains from Tibet have been included because of the devastation to the Tibetan monasteries – creating a reminder of their beauty and the hope of their continuing culture. She chose to paint water for its beauty, danger, and importance to our human existence. The moon makes an appearance because it is a universal symbol – seen by all humanity from anywhere on earth. And lastly, the brambles for their intricacy – a delicate and yet lasting part of our landscapes.

Featured alongside paintings of nature, Gunderson will include portraits; of royalty to raise archetypes of good leaders to their people; and of President Barack Obama to celebrate the importance of his presidency and his legacy.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Karen Gunderson’s black paintings explore luminosity and push the limits of painterly gesture. Working exclusively in black oils, Gunderson focuses the act of painting on the relationship between brushstroke and light. “By using only blacks, I’m forcing the focus onto the brush strokes reflected by the light,” she says. “I paint a form, an image with black paint, and the light makes them visible, like magic.” Gunderson’s highly reflective surfaces cause the paintings to sparkle and shift as the viewer moves about the artwork.

Gunderson was born in Racine, Wisconsin in 1943 and earned her Bachelor’s degree from Wisconsin State University, Whitewater. She earned both a Master of Arts and a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Iowa, Iowa City, in Painting and Intermedia, respectively. Her work has been the subject of numerous solo exhibitions across the world, in places such as Bahrain, Belgium, Bulgaria, Italy, Poland, Spain, Togo, the United States, and the United Kingdom. 

Gunderson has received many honors and awards, most notably a Lorenzo Magnifico Prize in Painting at the 2001 Florence Biennale (Italy), and has been named by noted critic Donald Kuspit as one of the “New Old Masters.” In 2020, she received the international Anonymous Was A Woman award. After 40 years of living in New York City, she currently lives and works in the Hudson Valley in Upstate New York.