Octopus Meditations Series: Kelp King with Nine Brains 2023 32x32

Year2023

Hand SignedLower Right 

Condition Excellent 

Framed with PlexiglassFramed w/ Archival Mat 

Purchased fromArtist 2023 

Provenance / HistoryThis work developed from the Octopus Meditations Series as a spiritual metaphor for the remarkable intelligence of Octopuses who survive by their adaptive, conscious decision making in an environment where they exist as unprotected(no exoskeleton ), delicious masses of protein sought by many predators. Evolution has made enabled them to change color, shape and texture to fit into their environment in such a manner that their presence is hidden. They are smart, curious sentient beings and offer a way to study consciousness, art and being. These works are routinely exhibited in Art and Science Collaborative settings and are known for their advancement of the principle of "consilience" or intellectual unity. 

Story / Additional InfoEd Kerns is an American painter and educator. He studied with Grace Hartigan, the highly regarded American Abstract Expressionist. Through his friendship with Hartigan, Kerns came to know and work for many artists of the New York School, including Willem de Kooning, James Brooks, Philip Guston, Clyfford Still, and Sam Francis. Kerns’ career in New York had a meteoric trajectory. In 1972, his first exhibition at the Sachs Gallery on 57th Street in Manhattan garnered high critical praise. The New York Times, The Village Voice, Arts Magazine, ArtForum , and ArtNews were among the numerous publications to praise his work. Kerns lived and exhibited in Manhattan for 12 years before coming to Lafayette College to chair and build the modern era Art Department. In 1987, Kerns was awarded the Eugene and Mildred Clapp Professorship of Art. He became the youngest person to hold an endowed chair in the College’s history. Kerns has enjoyed a long association with the New York galleries. 

Certificate of AuthenticityArt Brokerage 

LID159573

Ed Kerns - United States

Art Brokerage: Ed Kerns American Abstract Expressionist Artist: b. 1945. Ed Kerns (February 22, 1945) is an American abstract artist and educator. Kerns studied with the noted Abstract-Expressionist painter, Grace Hartigan and through the elder artist came to know and work with many artists of that generation including, Phillip Guston, Willem de Kooning, James Brooks, Ernest Briggs, Richard Diebenkorn and Sam Francis. Born in 1945 in Richmond, Virginia, Kerns started painting at a young age. He attended the Richmond Professional Institute, receiving his BFA in 1967. He went on to the Maryland Institute, where he studied with painter Grace Hartigan. Here, Kerns received the Hoffberger Fellowship and graduated with an MFA in 1969. Kerns first gained exposure in 1972, when he was commissioned by art collector Larry Aldrich to paint 100 paintings over the course of the year as gifts.That same year, Kerns had his first solo art show at the AM Sachs Gallery in New York. Over the course of the 1970s and 80s, Kerns formed a close partnership with the Rosa Esman Gallery and exhibited ten solo shows there. Of his work in the late 1970s and early 80s, gallery coordinator Judith Stein says, "He works slowly, creating no more than ten large paintings a year. His media are acrylic, sand, and thread, the last used to stitch together sections of canvas. Often plywood or upsom board is used as support." Listings wanted.