ARTS Southeast is pleased to host JOHN PAUL KESLING in the on::View REsidency From MAY 9th - JUNE 7TH, 2024
Artist Talk:
Saturday, June 1st at 2PM
Project Finale:
Friday, June 7th from 5 - 9PM
in conjunction with First Fridays in Starland and the release of IMPACT Arts + Culture Magazine Vol. 3 No. 1,
featuring John Paul Kesling in an Artist Spotlight
JOHN PAUL KESLING SOLO EXHIBITION:
July 5th – August 17th, 2024
Stay tuned for further details!
About the Project:
During his Residency, Kesling will create a series of large-scale mixed-media paintings of figures in landscapes, based on the unique foliage, colors, architecture, people and visual aesthetics of Savannah and Tybee Island. He will choose subjects and places that hint to the history of the city, its present, and its future. As an alumnus of SCAD, Kesling will draw inspiration from a personal connection to the city and landscape. The works will be a celebration of nature and speak to the power it imbues to unite us all during these trying times, presented as both a utopian/dystopian scene of nostalgia and invention.
About the Artist:
John Paul Kesling (b. 1980, USA) was born and raised in Northeastern Kentucky in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. He received his BFA in Arts from Morehead State University (Morehead, KY, 2003) and spent a summer in Europe studying art history (Summer 2002). He went on to receive his MFA in Painting from SCAD (Savannah, GA, 2010). He spent the next six years in Brooklyn, NY immersed in the NYC art scene. In March of 2016, while attending a month-long residency at The Vermont Studio Center he realized how integral time, space, and nature were to his studio practice and in 2016, relocated to Madison, TN, just outside of Nashville.
His work has been featured in various group exhibitions and in 2022 he was accepted to the White Columns Curated Online Artist Registry. His work is included in the permanent collections of SCAD, Vanderbilt University Medical Center Community Arts Initiative and Soho House Nashville. He has attended artist residencies at Vermont Studio Center, Art Residency Chattanooga, Azule, Jx Farms, and Mudhouse. He has had solo shows at Wheelhouse Arts (Louisville, KY), Oz Arts (Nashville, TN) and The Red Arrow Gallery (Nashville, TN).
Kesling is a member of the artist collective at Ground Floor Contemporary (Birmingham, AL) and is represented by The Red Arrow Gallery (Nashville, TN) and Wheelhouse Art (Louisville, KY).
