Bio

John Paul Kesling 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) and spent a semester in Europe studying art history. In 2010, he received his MFA in Painting from The Savannah College of Art and Design. He spent the next six years in Brooklyn, NY immersed in the NYC art scene. In March of 2016, he attended a month-long residency at The Vermont Studio Center. While there, he realized how integral time, space, and nature were to his studio practice and in 2016, relocated to Nashville, TN.

His work has recently been featured in various group exhibitions at The Parthenon (Nashville, TN), CultureLab LIC (Queens, NY), Piano Craft Gallery (Boston, MA), New York Hall of Science & SciArts Initiative (Queens, NY), Prince Street Gallery (New York, NY), Flatwork Contemporary (online), I Like Your Work Podcast (online and print), ArtMaze Mag (online and print) and Create Magazine (online). In 2022 he was accepted to the White Columns Curated Online Artist Registry (New York, NY) and his work was recently added to the Soho House Nashville's permanent collection. He has had recent solo shows at Wheelhouse Arts (Louisville, KY), Oz Arts (Nashville, TN) and The Red Arrow Gallery (Nashville, TN).

He's currently represented by The Red Arrow Gallery (Nashville, TN) and Wheelhouse Art (Louisville, KY).

Statement

I paint to understand the world around me. It seems as necessary as digging in the dirt or dragging your hand through a body of water or across a freshly buzzed head. Painting is historical, primitive and elemental. The images say what words cannot, like a melody in a song. Through intuition and humor, nostalgia and conversation, I seek honesty through imagery. In the history of painting, the work that resonates with me has always been that which was made from personality. I try to follow in those footsteps. Rarely sketching, I let the materials and surfaces guide me. Employing painterly brushwork, collage, bright colors and movement, the work presents a utopian/dystopian account of the day-to-day world.

Figures and landscapes, friendships and pop culture, nature, sex, history, politics, the "art world" and self-criticism/discovery are all equals in the work. I use everything I encounter as possible materials for image-making. I don't see painting as a linear progression, but more of an archaeological dig. Each unearthing brings new answers and, perhaps more importantly, more questions.In my work, I give the paint a chance to show off but also make a joke; think of a ballet dancer ending a poetic performance by asking an audience member to pull their finger. How stunning! Finding balance with levity is a welcome challenge. In the end though, I think humans mostly make things to impress somebody they like; that seems pretty okay, too.

https://www.johnpaulkesling.com/

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