October 14 - November 25, 2023
From Ivester Contemporary:
“Ivester Contemporary is excited to announce Bradley Kerl’s second solo exhibition with the gallery titled, To Speak Through Flowers. “To speak through flowers” is a German idiom that means to communicate in a roundabout way through symbols, codes or figures of speech. Kerl first heard this saying during a conversation that was obstructed by a literal bouquet of flowers.
Kerl views the work in this exhibition as composites of his lived experiences, in addition to visions and memories from an indistinct, non-linear timeline. The majority of the imagery featured in To Speak Through Flowers originate from an artist residency Kerl attended in France, but he does not think of the paintings as distinctly “French”. The figures, and scenes may be people and places the artist knows and loves, but he does not think of the identities and specifics of these details to be particularly important in the context of his painting practice. Instead, Kerl uses the figures, scenes, colors, and suggestive gestures in his work simply as devices to “activate” his canvases. This exhibition is about the beauty of painting.
Bradley Kerl (b. 1986, Beaumont, TX) is a painter and arts educator based in Houston, Texas. He holds Drawing & Painting degrees from both the University of North Texas (BFA) and the University of Houston (MFA). Bradley has been the focus of solo exhibitions at NADA’s New York City Project Space in Chinatown’s East Broadway Mall; Art League Houston, Houston, TX ; Ivester Contemporary, Austin, TX; Gold Diggers, Los Angeles, CA; Galveston Arts Center, Galveston, TX; and, most recently, at Beeville Art Museum in Beeville, TX. Group exhibitions include Dream Paper at Galerie SLIKA in Lyon, France; paper. at BEERS London in London, England, Paradisia at Mini Galerie in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, Rude Assembly Part 4 at China Heights Gallery in Sydney, Australia, Got It For Cheap at Galleri Golsa in Oslo, Norway, 10 Years 10 Artists at Octavia Art Gallery in New Orleans, LA, and FUN (2017) at Kirk Hopper Fine Art in Dallas, TX. Artist residencies include Domaine de Boisbuchet in Lessac, France; Villa Lena in Tuscany, Italy; and Corsicana Artist and Writer Residency in Corsicana, TX. His work has appeared in Artnews, Financial Times, Texas Highways Magazine, Süddeutsch Zeitung Magazine, Support Magazine #2, Texas Monthly, New American Paintings No. 138, Friend of The Artist: Volume 7, and Glasstire, among others.”
Reception: October 21, 2023 | 7–9 pm
916 Springdale Rd Bldg 2, Suite 107 Austin, TX 78702
Austin, 78702 Texas
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