| Born
in 1952, Pascal Kern lived and worked in Paris, where he studied
at the Sorbonne. Kern uses photography to produce ‘sculptures’,
which explore the question of volume in all its aspects: the
relationships between volume and surface, fullness and emptiness,
mass and colour, depth and contour. Using found or natural
forms, he elevates the every-day to an almost iconic status;
fascinated with the space created and occupied by the subject,
and the purity of it’s form. The metal industrial objects
and wooden moulds are retrieved from old factories and foundries,
while the vegetables are grown from seed. The artist lived
with his subject matter for a period of time before photographing,
taking only one photograph which is
later reproduced to life-size. The cibachrome photographs
of each subject are presented
as diptychs, triptychs or polyptychs, in frames constructed
with related materials.
The final stage in the long process of crafting these incredible
works is for them to be
hung specifically (with precise instructions from the artist)
to achieve a perfect balance;
the work appearing almost weightless whilst creating an unusually
powerful presence.
Selected
Solo exhbitions
2000 Galerie Municipale , Vitry sur Seine
1999 HackelBury Fine Art, London
1998 Museé des Beaux-Arts, Lons le Saunier. Fonds Régional
d’Art Contemporain, Auvergne
1994 Centre d’Arts Plastiques, Royan
1991 Künsthaus Mousonturm, Frankfurt. Centre National
de la Photographie, Paris.
Galerie Zabriskie, Paris
1990 Zabriskie Gallery, New York
1988 French Institute, Cologne
1986 Thomas Barrie Fine Art, Minneapolis
1980 Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris
Selected
Group Exhibitions
1998 Fondation Cartier, Paris
1997 Centre Européen d’Actions Artistiques, Strasbourg
1993 Pinacothèque Nationale, Athens
1992 Museu d’Art Modern, Barcelona
1991 International Center of Photography, New York
1989 Ludwig Museum, Cologne. Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris
1985 Barbican Art Gallery, London
Pascal
Kern’s work is included in numerous international private
and museum collections. |
