About
Diapause: a period of physiologically enforced dormancy between periods of activity.
"the eggs diapause over winter, and development resumes after the spring thaw"
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Chris Kannen was born in Cleveland, OH and earned his BFA from the University of Dayton and his MFA from Hunter College in New York City. Chris was an artist-in-residence at Samband Íslenskra Myndlistarmanna (SÍM), Reykjavik, Iceland, and in the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica as the recipient of a National Science Foundation Antarctic Artist and Writer Award. He lives in Denver and works in Denver and throughout the local landscape.
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I make paintings from my personal experience of nature - smaller paintings from direct observation in the plein air tradition, and larger-scale paintings that explore details of these observations. The work on this website is organized into groups centered on a specific time and place, suggested by the title of each group. They veer off from there.
You can reach me at cmkannen@gmail.com, on Instagram @chriskannen, or through the form below.
Thanks for visiting!
Contact
CV
born 1977 in Cleveland, OH
based in Denver, CO
EDUCATION
MFA, Hunter College, New York, NY, 2001
BFA, University of Dayton, Dayton, OH, 1999
RESIDENCIES
Antarctic Artist and Writer Award, U.S. National Science Foundation, 2008
Artist In Residence, Samband Islenskra Myndlistarmanna, Reykjavik, Iceland, 2004
Graf Travel Grant, Hunter College Art Department, 2001
EXHIBITIONS
New Artwork from Antarctica, Studio D Gallery, University of Dayton, OH, 2008
After the Arctic, PH Gallery, New York, NY, 2005
Christopher Kannen, B. Deemer Gallery, Louisville, KY, 2000
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
Zero Art Fair, Elizaville, NY, 2024
Mudd Club, Lane Meyer Projects, Denver, CO, 2024
The Object of Memory, two-person show with Lauren Eisen, Curfman Gallery, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, 2023
Arm’s Length, Georgia, Denver, CO, 2023
Traveling Exhibition, Dairy Arts Center, Boulder, CO, 2022
The Boulder We Love, R Gallery, Boulder, CO, 2021
Journeys: Travel Photography, Black Box Gallery, Portland, OR (juried by artist Ethan Jackson) (catalogue), 2013
Screening, H20 Film on Water, Emory University Visual Arts Building, Atlanta, GA, 2012
H2O Film on Water, Newport Mill, Newport, NH (juried by Denise Markonish, curator, MassMOCA, North Adams, MA), 2012
Topos, Maynard Art Center, Maynard, MA, 2009
Sasquatch Society, Sixtyseven Gallery, New York, NY, 2005
Chris Kannen, Eric Torborg, PH Gallery, New York, NY, 2004
Sojourn, PH Gallery, New York, NY, 2003
Carefully Drawn, Storefront 1838, New York, NY, 2002
Alumni Exhibition, Rike Center Gallery, Dayton, OH, 2001
ARTIST TALKS
Art Department, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, 2013
Art and Environment program, School of Art and Design, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, 2012
Northern Essex Community College, Haverhill, MA, 2009
West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, 2009
Department of Visual Arts, University of Dayton, Dayton, OH, 2008
Public interview, “Where Have You Been? with Jeff Stark,” Bluestockings Books, New York, NY, 2008
Artist talk, Robert Gober studio, New York, NY, 2008
Artist talk, Design Trust for Public Space, New York, NY, 2008
Artist talk, Sunday Science Lecture Series, McMurdo Station, Antarctica, 2008
PUBLICATIONS AS AUTHOR
Whatever Moves or Makes Noise. Self-published photobook, 2018 [LINK TO PURCHASE]
“Whatever Moves or Makes Noise,” ARID Journal, Spring/Summer 2013, Volume 2, Issue 1.
Artist blog, “Parhelion Pemmican Pack Ice Pancake”, December 19, 2007—April 1, 2009.
PRESS
Alan Taylor, “Recent Scenes from Antarctica”, In Focus, The Atlantic, March 4, 2011.
Ransom Riggs, “Vacation to Mars: Antarctica’s Dry Valleys”, mental_floss, February 3, 2010.
James Wagner, “Sasquatch Society at Sixtyseven,” jameswagner.com, August 28, 2005, 7:05 PM.
Ken Johnson, “Art Guide,” The New York Times, September 12, 19, 2003.
