Hear a WRR interview with Joachim Kersten on the ART MATTERS show
About Joachim Kersten
German artist Joachim Kersten earned his Masters degree from the academy of Fine Arts, Nuremberg in 1987 and has been working as a professIonal artist ever since, exhibiting extensively in Europe. ” Arabesque will be his second exhibition in the United States.
Kersten’s artwork alludes to the grace and beauty of a visual ballet created by the delicate presentation, manipulation, and arrangement of color. “Color is the unrestricted central point of investigation in the paintings of Joachim Kersten,” writes Friedolin Kleuderlein. Through color, Kersten creates life within his paintings by varying the intensity of pigment and application of under-painting. Because the paintings are abstract, devoid of subject matter, Kersten’ s desire is for the color arrangement of the paintings to emote a sensual response from the viewer. These paintings, often diminutive whether painted on wood panels or on canvas, have a luminous quality. Using color as light, they seem to almost glow from within. Kersten consistently arranges and rearranges loosely painted rectangular shapes, defined only by their color, in order to change the mood and movement within the painting. The relationship of one color to the next and to the whole makes these works visually intriguing, as the color appears to move about within the space. As if candy bubbling in a caldron, the surface texture of these paintings is lush and tactile.
Friedolin Kleuderlein further writes, “Joachim Kersten tracks down a basic structure in what is visible & perceptible. He is skeletonizing the fleeting moment, taking away all the superficial & accidental, uncovering genuine insights.”
The prestigious Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts in Omaha, Nebraska invited Kersten to come to the United States as that institution’s Artist-in-Residence in 1993. Having exhibited internationally Joachim Kersten’s works are included in numerous European public & private collections.