About the Artist
Pathways and Shadows
An Artists Journey and Process
Ken Steinkamp has been painting, producing images and exhibiting for nearly thirty years. Upon graduating from the University of Northern Iowa, he was enlisted in US Army and after photographic training and was assigned to the White House Photography Lab, Washington, DC. After his discharge, he completed a Masters Degree in Studio Art from the University of Wisconsin- Madison. After a brief teaching career, he worked at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art. He has traveled extensively in Europe and the US as a crewmember for American Airlines. He has lived in Los Angeles, Santa Monica, CA and Northampton, MA, Stonington CT, and Providence RI where he had several one man and juried exhibitions throughout the region. His work is found in collections throughout the United States and Europe. His studio is located in Westerly RI. He is a Mystic Museum of Art and Art League Rhode Island Elected Artist where he currently serves as a Board of Director. His loft/studio is located in an industrial loft building at 32 Friendship St. Westerly RI 02891.
Ken Steinkamp
Artist Statement 2018
Pathways and Shadows is a concept and narrative that evolved from my walks down the Blackstone Boulevard pathway near my residence in Providence RI, in late April and early May 2017. Along that walk, I experienced bold and enigmatic shadows made by the leafless tree limbs that line the pathway. With the convenience of an iPhone I became enthralled with capturing the many images that were before me. I soon realized that these newly framed images had a curious and profound relationship to my paintings and process over the past years.
My bold use of lines, textures and colors often depicted shadow like images within them, adding meaning through a narrative of shadows along one’s life pathway. It was an epiphany to my process.
More information about my artist career can be found on my website https://www.kensteinkamp.com/.
A Curator's Point of View.
Steinkamp's considerable body of work reveals his fascination with the basic elements of painting: line, color, surface, and texture. The dense, layered mark making in his Timed Exposure Ken series, which the artist relates to the expressiveness of calligraphy, draws upon Western and Eastern art traditions and recalls the earlier works of Pat Steir and Brice Marden. Though the building blocks of Steinkamp's art are very simple, his reason for returning to painting on a full-time basis - after a career that included teaching and working as an airline attendant - reflects a more complex aspiration; as the artist describes it, it is the search for a ‘life force’. In this way, Steinkamp's work stands in stark contrast to what art critic Peter Schjeldahl has described as a 'crisis' that developed in art during the 20th century, where as he describes it, many artists abandoned art’s Dionysian, or spiritual, side and became 'apostles of abstract concepts'. To the contrary, Ken Steinkamp's work is evidence of how contemporary artists can engage in a dialogue with abstraction and the formal aspects of painting, while remaining fully engaged with expressing inner truths, like the search for meaning and beauty.
David Schmitz
Curator
Marks of Process
University of Northern Iowa Art Gallery
February 9 – March 9, 2011
Cedar Falls, Iowa
Ken Steinkamp
Artist Resume-Exhibitions
Education:
MA 1974 University of Wisconsin, Madison, Studio Art/Printmaking
BA 1970, University of Northern Iowa, Art Education
Solo Exhibitions:
2023 South County Art Association Member Invitational ,Kingston RI
2015 Cate Charles Gallery, Providence RI
2012 University of Connecticut Avery Point, Groton, CT
2009 Cate Charles Gallery, Stonington CT
2008 Hygienic Art Galleries, New London, CT
1995 Greenfield Community College, Greenfield, MA
1994 Northampton Center For the Arts, Northampton, MA
1993 Hearst Art Center, Cedar Falls, IA
1992 Christopher John Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
1991 Christopher John Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
1989 Art Source LA Gallery, Los Angels, CA
1986 Francine Elman Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
1985 James Clark Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Selected Juried Exhibitions and Select Group Shows:
2023 Salmagundi Art Club, Veterans Juried Exhibiton.New York, NY
2023 South County Art Association, Juried Mixed Media, Kingston RI
2022 South County Art Association, Juried Mixed Media, Kingston RI
2022 South County Art Association, Juried Mixed Media, Kingston RI
2021 South County Art Association, Juried Mixed Media, Kingston RI
2021 Salmagundi Art Club, Veterans Juried Exhibiton.New York, NY
2021 South County Art Association, Juried Mixed Media, Second Prize, Kingston RI
2021 Art League Rhode Island, Elected Artist Exhibit, Honorable Mention , Providence RI
2021 Coastal Contemporary Gallery, Group Show, Newport RI
2020 Coastal Contemporary Gallery , Step in Time, Newport RI
2109 Bristol Museum of Art, Bristol CT. Abstract Exhibition
2018 VETS Gallery, Providence RI, Facing the Wall
2019 Coastal Contemporary Gallery, Newport RI
2019 Hygienic Gallery, New London CT
2019 Mystic Museum of Art, Mystic CT
2018 Mystic Museum of Art, Memories, Mystic CT
2017 Veteran’s Exhibition, Hygienic Gallery New London, CT
2017 ArtProv Gallery, Providence RI
2017 Newport Art Museum, Newport RI, Annual Juried Members Exhibition
2017 Bristol Museum of Art, Bristol RI, AlRI Elected Artist Exhibition, Best in Show
2017 Warwick Center for the Arts, Warwick RI Exploring Abstracts, Honorable Mention
2017 Mystic Museum of Art, Mystic CT Annual Regional Exhibition
2016 Newport Art Museum, Newport, RI, Annual Juried Members Show,
2016 ArtProv Gallery, Providence RI
2106 Vets Gallery, Opposites Juried Show, Providence, RI
2016 Mystic Museum of Art, Black and White Juried Show, Mystic, CT
2015 Newport Art Museum, Art League of Rhode Island, Elected Artist Show, Newport, RI
2015 University of Rhode Island Feinstein Gallery, Providence, RI
2015 Mystic Arts Center Regional Juried Show, Mystic, CT
2014 Attleboro Arts Museum, Attleboro MA, ALRI Elected Artist Exhibit.
2014 Cate Charles Gallery, Providence, RI
2013 Paint, National Juried Painting Exhibit, Herra Gallery, Wakefield, RI
2014 Providence Art Club, Art League RI Elected Artist Exhibit, Providence RI
2013 Heritage Gallery-Art League Rhodes Island, East Greenwich, RI, Juror's Award,
2013 Mystic Arts Center, Mystic CT, 54th Regional Exhibition
2013 Mill Gallery, Pawtucket Artist Collaborative Annual show, Pawtucket RI
2012 Hygienic Arts Center, New London CT, Crossing the Bridge, Regional Show, Second Place)
2012 Hygienic Arts Center New London CT, F Stop Photo Exhibit
2012 Mystic Arts Center, Mystic CT, Self Image
2011 Hygienic Art Center, New London CT (Honorable Mention)
2011 Mystic Arts Center, Mystic CT, The Art of Fabric
2011 Mystic Arts Center, Mystic CT Annual Photographic Show (Honorable Mention)
2011 Mystic Arts Center, Mystic CT, Annual Regional Exhibit
2011 University of Northern Iowa Alumni Exhibition, Making the Mark, Cedar Falls, IA
2011 Espressiones Gallery and Cultural Center, New London CT
2010 Cate Charles Gallery, Stonington, CT
2010 Espressiones Gallery and Cultural Center, New London CT
2010 Hygienic Art Gallery, New London, CT, By invitation: gesture: making the mark
2010 Mystic Arts Center, Mystic, CT, Annual Members Show, (Award of Excellence)
2009 Mystic Arts Center, Regional Show, Mystic, CT
2009 Espressiones Gallery and Cultural Center, New London CT
2009 Hygienic Arts Gallery, New London CT, Annual Regional Show
2009 Mystic Arts Center, Mystic CT, Interiors Revealed Show, (Honorable Mention)
2008 Mystic Arts Center Regional Show Mystic CT (Second Prize)
2007 Central Gallery, Old Saybrook CT
2007 Mystic Arts Center, Mystic CT (Honorable Mention)
2007 Hygienic Gallery Annual Show, New London, CT (Honorable Mention)
2006 Mystic Arts Center Regional Show, Mystic, CT
2006 Connecticut Academy of Art Annual Exhibition, Mystic, CT
2005 Mystic Arts Center Regional Show, Mystic, CT
1992 Los Angeles County Art Museum,
1988 University of Delaware Biennial
1970 All Iowa Art Show, Des Moines Art Center, Des Moines IA
Honors:
2013-2021 Elected Artist, Art League Rhode Island
2010 Artist in Residence, University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls IA
2007-2020 Elected Artist, Mystic Arts Center, Mystic, CT
1973 Full Scholarship, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI
1973 Presidential Service Medal, White House Communications Agency, Washington DC
1970 Artist Honors Graduate, University Northern Iowa
1966 Full Scholarship, University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls IA
Selected Public Collection
2007 University of Texas, School of Communication, Austin TX
1970 University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, IA
1992 Chemical Bank, Chicago, IL
1982 Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, OH
