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"Waves of Riches" Exhibition by Karen Kunc


Karen Kunc is an accomplished artist that has been dedicated to her printmaking process for over twenty-five years. Kunc is a Professor of Art at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She has exhibited her woodcut prints and artist’s books nationally and internationally. Her work can be found in numerous private and public collections and national and international museums, such as the Brooklyn Museum of Art, Fogg Art Museum, Museum of Modern Art, National Museum of American Art Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Women in the Arts, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Walker Art Center, and the Yale University Haas Arts Library. Kunc has received a Fulbright Fellowship among many other awards.

To create each image several woodblocks are carved and printed, where every layer is a separate block of wood. This labor-intensive process parallels one of the main themes explored throughout the exhibition; Kunc often portrays time and weather and how these natural phenomena drastically change the world around us. Within the titles of her pieces Kunc gives the viewer insight into how she approaches different aspects of our world; Whether we are looking at a representation of something concrete in “Water & Smoke” or something more abstract in “Motion & Gravity,” every individual image is equally captivating in both color and structure. Presenting Karen Kunc’s work in Oklahoma City for the first time is both an honor and a longtime dream for our organization.

ARTSPACE AT UNTITLED IS FORTUNATE TO BE THE FIRST TO DISPLAY “REEF,” A MASSIVE INSTALLATION THAT SPANS OVER SIX FEET BY ELEVEN FEET COMPLETED BY KUNC IN 2017.

EACH PANEL WITHIN THE PIECE IS UNIQUE AND THE INSTALLATION CHANGES DRASTICALLY FROM TOP TO BOTTOM. THE PANELS ARE LINKED BY COLOR AND PATTERN WHICH ARE REPEATED THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE PIECE. THIS INSTALLATION FUNCTIONS AS AN OBVIOUS REPRESENTATION OF KUNC’S QUINTESSENTIAL THEME OF TIME.