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Kyle Dunn - Artists - PPOW

Kyle Dunn, 2020 Photo by Jack Pierson

In his luminous and emotionally complex paintings, Kyle Dunn (b. 1990) depicts scenes of isolation and romantic connection in a modern world where the barrier between public and private life is increasingly porous. The composite figures in his work are often caught in moments of solitude or interior self-reflection, offering at first glance scenes of domestic intimacy. Dueling elements of the theatrical and the mundane complicate the lines separating perception and projection. The emotional tenor of the scenes is heightened by a pervasive liquid eroticism and theatrical lighting, only to be undercut with moments of careful observation and quiet humor. Dunn’s work mines the tension created between this cinematic drama and personal introspection to explore the fraught relationship between artist and subject, between one lover and another, and between individual and society. Dunn lives and works in Brooklyn, NY, and received his BFA in Interdisciplinary Sculpture from the Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, MD. His work has been included in exhibitions at P·P·O·W, New York, NY; Marlborough Gallery, London, UK; GRIMM, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Maria Bernheim, Zurich, Switzerland; and Galerie Judin, Berlin, Germany; among others. His work is in the collections of the Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, TX; the Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami, FL; the Sunpride Foundation, Kowloon, Hong Kong; and X Museum, Beijing, China. In 2022, his work was exhibited at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami, FL, in Fire Figure Fantasy: Selections from ICA Miami’s Collection. Dunn has been featured in various publications including The New York Times, AnOther Magazine, W Magazine, and Juxtapoz among others.  Dunn’s first institutional solo exhibition, Kyle Dunn / MATRIX 194, at the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, CT, runs from June 7 to September 1, 2024. His first solo exhibition with Vielmetter Los Angeles, CA, will open in spring 2025.

Kyle Dunn

b. 1990, Livonia, MI
Lives and works in Queens, NY

Education 

2012    
B.F.A. Interdisciplinary Sculpture at Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, MD

2011    
Option SCIE at La Haute Ecole d'art et de désign de Genève (HEAD), Switzerland

Solo Exhibitions

2024
Kyle Dunn / Matrix 194, Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, CT 

2023
Night Pictures, P·P·O·W, New York, NY 

2021    
The Fool, Galerie Maria Bernheim, Zurich, Switzerland

2020    
Into Open Air, P·P·O·W, New York, NY

2018    
Always, Thierry Goldberg Gallery, New York, NY
Night In, Julius Caesar, Chicago, IL

2017    
Leaves Don't Thank the Sun, Sardine, Brooklyn, NY

Select Group Exhibitions

2024
FULL DISCLOSURE: Selections from the Thomas-Suwall Collection, The Plains Art Museum, Fargo, ND
When You See Me: Visibility in Contemporary Art/History, Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, TX 

2023
SIRANI, Galerie Judin, Berlin, Germany

2022
Fire Figure Fantasy: Selections from ICA Miami's Collection, ICA Miami, Miami, FL
Love is the Devil: Studies after Francis Bacon, Marlborough Gallery, London, United Kingdom  

2021    
Equal Affections, GRIMM Gallery, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Tidal Motion, P·P·O·W and Joe Sheftel, Provincetown, MA
Body Double, Galerie Maria Bernheim, London, United Kingdom

2019    
Do You Love Me?, P·P·O·W, New York, NY
Cruise Kidman Kubrick, Galerie Maria Bernheim, Zurich, Switzerland
Body Parts, Galerie Maria Bernheim, Zurich, Switzerland

2018    
A Scratch in Time, Thierry Goldberg Gallery, New York, NY
RE_ARRANGE, Juxtapoz Projects at Mana Contemporary, Jersey City, NJ
Skins, Greenpoint Terminal Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
Hickey, Little Berlin, Philadelphia, PA
Thick on the Ground, two person show with Christian Rogers at NATIONALE, Portland, OR
Interrupting Lines, Pt. 2: Gallery, Oakland, CA
Strange Looks, Gildar Gallery, Denver, CO
Fugue, Honey Ramka, Brooklyn, NY

Public Collections

Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, TX
ICA Miami, Miami, FL
Sunpride Foundation, Hong Kong
Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, CT
X Museum, Beijing, China

Awards, Residencies, and Grants

2014    
Elizabeth Greenshields Full Grant Recipient, Montreal, Canada

2013    
Artist in Residence at the Woodstock Byrdcliffe Guild, hosted by The Pollock-Krasner Foundation, Woodstock, NY

Select Bibliography

2023
Judin, Juerg, Pay Matthis Karstens. SIRANI. Galerie Judin, Berlin, 2023.

2021
Oostmeijer, Edwin. Equal Affections. GRIMM Gallery, 2021.

2018    
Artforum, PROJECT: KYLE VU-DUNN, November 2018
New Art Examiner
Artmaze Mag, Summer Edition 8, curated by Sara Maria Salamone and Tyler Lafreniere, Founders and Head Curators of Mrs. Gallery, NYC
Strange Plants III, by Zio Baritaux

2017    
Strange Fire, November 9th, 2017
The New Yorker, Kyle Vu-Dunn, November 3rd, 2017
Work In Progress Publication, March 2017 issue
Young Space, March 2017

Selected Works

Selected Works Thumbnails
Kyle Dunn
Paper Angel, 2023
acrylic on wood panel
70 x 50 ins.
177.8 x 127 cm

Kyle Dunn
Paper Angel, 2023
acrylic on wood panel
70 x 50 ins.
177.8 x 127 cm

Kyle Dunn
Initiation, 2023
acrylic on wood panel
60 x 48 ins.
152.4 x 121.9 cm

Kyle Dunn
Initiation, 2023
acrylic on wood panel
60 x 48 ins.
152.4 x 121.9 cm

Kyle Dunn
The Hunt, 2022
flashe and acrylic on wood panel
72 x 60 ins.
182.9 x 152.4 cm

Kyle Dunn
The Hunt, 2022
flashe and acrylic on wood panel
72 x 60 ins.
182.9 x 152.4 cm

Kyle Dunn
Coat, 2022
flashe and acrylic on wood panel
60 x 48 ins.
152.4 x 121.9 cm

Kyle Dunn
Coat, 2022
flashe and acrylic on wood panel
60 x 48 ins.
152.4 x 121.9 cm

Kyle Dunn, Match II, 2022

Kyle Dunn
Match II, 2022
acrylic and flashe on wood panel
20 x 16 ins.
50.8 x 40.6 cm

Kyle Dunn, Homecoming, 2021

Kyle Dunn
Homecoming, 2021
acrylic on wooden panel
60 x 48 ins.
152.4 x 121.9 cm

Kyle Dunn
Paper Angel, 2023
acrylic on wood panel
70 x 50 ins.
177.8 x 127 cm

Kyle Dunn
Paper Angel, 2023
acrylic on wood panel
70 x 50 ins.
177.8 x 127 cm

Kyle Dunn
Initiation, 2023
acrylic on wood panel
60 x 48 ins.
152.4 x 121.9 cm

Kyle Dunn
Initiation, 2023
acrylic on wood panel
60 x 48 ins.
152.4 x 121.9 cm

Kyle Dunn
The Hunt, 2022
flashe and acrylic on wood panel
72 x 60 ins.
182.9 x 152.4 cm

Kyle Dunn
The Hunt, 2022
flashe and acrylic on wood panel
72 x 60 ins.
182.9 x 152.4 cm

Kyle Dunn
Coat, 2022
flashe and acrylic on wood panel
60 x 48 ins.
152.4 x 121.9 cm

Kyle Dunn
Coat, 2022
flashe and acrylic on wood panel
60 x 48 ins.
152.4 x 121.9 cm

Kyle Dunn, Match II, 2022

Kyle Dunn
Match II, 2022
acrylic and flashe on wood panel
20 x 16 ins.
50.8 x 40.6 cm

Kyle Dunn, Homecoming, 2021

Kyle Dunn
Homecoming, 2021
acrylic on wooden panel
60 x 48 ins.
152.4 x 121.9 cm