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PAINTINGS
Appel, Kevin
U.S. (1967 - )
House: Open Study
2001
Watercolor on paper
20 1/2 x 28 in. (52.1 x 71.1 cm) image size; 22 1/2 x 29 3/4 in. (57.2 x 75.6 cm) sheet size; 26 x 33 3/4 x 3/4 in. (66 x 85.7 x 1.9 cm) frame size
Gift of Burt and Jane Berman
FA 2008.188

A native of Los Angeles, California, Kevin Appel was born to an architect father and an interior designer mother, and in his work he attempts to bridge the distinct languages of these two disciplines. His drawings and paintings recall the interiors of mid-century architecture, and often play with illusion and abstraction. The artist’s aim is to focus on space as an elusive, flexible, stage-like setting, revealing the looming influence of Hollywood on the city where he has lived all his life. Through the use of simplified, floating, and flat geometric planes, Appel makes architecture return to its most basic function as an articulator and divider of space. The elegant sections of translucent watercolor positioned at different angles on an expansive white background create configurations that have an aura of mystery. The artist challenges the viewer to enter and visually navigate his beautiful, uncertain, dream-like drawings by releasing preconceived notions of physical space.

Kevin Appel was born in 1967 in Los Angeles, California, where he currently lives and works. He received his MFA from the University of California and his BFA from the Parsons School of Design, New York. His work has been shown in several solo and group exhibitions that address the broad themes of architecture and modernity. In 2011, he was the recipient of the California Community Foundation Fellowship for Visual Artists and the Emerging Artist Award from the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles. His work is included in several national and international collections, among them the Museum of Modern Art, New York; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; and the Saatchi Collection, London. -- Guidebook copy for The Ghost of Architecture, July 13 to September 29, 2013.

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