Din A4 - Karin Luner - Romancing a Stone – ink on paper - 2000

CV breve

Karin Luner , born in Düsseldorf, Germany, studied under the tutelage of Professor K. H. Hödicke at the Hochschule der Künste in Berlin where she received a Master of Fine Arts degree.
She moved to New York City after graduation in 1983 and has been living there ever since.

(vease abajo un resumen en Español)

Image above: Karin Luner – Romancing a Stone – ink on paper - 2000

Biography

Karin Luner , born in Düsseldorf, Germany, studied under the tutelage of Professor K. H. Hödicke at the Hochschule der Künste in Berlin where she received a Master of Fine Arts degree.
She moved to New York City after graduation in 1983 and has been living there ever since.
Luner studied lithography and etching at the Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop in New York City for three years and was awarded two printmaking fellowships by the R.F.Nelson Foundation. Excelling at printmaking rapidly, she taught lithography at Columbia University, substituting Mr. Robert Blackburn in 1991.
From 1992 - 1996 she was an active member of the Jersey City Artists Collective OProgressive Culture Works
In 1996 she was a recipient of the Pernod Liquid Art Award.
She showed her work in VA, the CAC in North Adams, MA, and at various galleries in Chicago, IL. in the L5 Galerie Initiatief in Roermond, The Netherlands in April 2001. Luners work has been included in numerous exhibitions throughout the United States and abrought. Her artwork has been shown at the Trans Hudson Gallery in NYC, the J. M. Kohler Art Center, WI, the Virginia Beach Art C . etc.

Image above: Karin Luner - The Office Coffee And Cake Piece, 1996

Artist Statement

”… My essential motivation is to create art that allows for contemplation and interpretation on a multitude of interrelated levels: visual, intellectual and historical. Form, color, craftsmanship, and archivalness / longevity, are all very important factors in creating a piece of art, even when I tend to use materials that are not considered conventional art materials. Often my basic materials are industrial products like styrofoam, used as a painting substrate instead of canvas and a variety of organic substances stabilized with acrylic mediums. (tortillas, muffin wrappers, coffee filters, dryer lint, etc).

Image above: Karin Luner – Milkweed, 1998

Artist Statement (continue)

”To reinforce my desire to have the work read on a variety of levels, the titles may often reflect ambivalence towards the viewer/consumer, the interpretation process, the art market, or the piece itself. I also enjoy a certain humorous approach, often hinted at with a play of words or ironic suggestions like in the titles: ”We Won’t Give” or “this latex piece might outlive your lifespan”. However, my work rarely takes on a purely ironic stance, and when it does, it usually involves some kind of criticism directed at the male dominated art market, the 'old boys club', or our male-centric historic narrative; like “Art For Art’s Sake Is A Luxury Women Just Can’t Afford” or “Holy Baloney”, a sausage made from a bible. I may also refrain from titling a work to invite a matter-of-fact approach towards the artwork, refusing to guide the viewer into any pre-fabricated point of view. For example, all the pieces in the Styrofoam / packaging – peanut / bandage series are named “Untitled”. In general, I prefer a serial approach to most of my ideas, one of which escalated in 1996 in a 256 part series: “The Office Coffee And Cake Piece”, in which the individual pieces carry the date as their title, like “Wed. June 4,1996“.
Over the years my work has transformed from being figurative, abstract expressionistic to abstract feminist, to some sort of organic non-figurative abstraction. These shifts have been important developmental stages which have enabled me to clarify and define my artistic vision. Through changing and growing I have gained a multitude of skills and widened my capability of expressing ideas in diverse mediums.
“Art is as important as eating, shitting, fucking and sleeping“ I wish I would remember who said that, but that’s about right…. “
K. Luner, 2008

Image above: Karin Luner - Commited Crimes, Painted Red

Resumen en Español

Karin Luner, nacido en Düsseldorf, Alemania, estudió bajo la tutela del profesor KH Hödicke en la Hochschule der Künste en Berlín, donde recibió un Master en Bellas Artes.
Se mudó a Nueva York después de graduarse en 1983 y ha vivido allí desde entonces
“Con los años mi trabajo se ha transformado de ser expresionista figurativo, abstracto a la feminista abstracta, a una suerte de orgánica abstracción no figurativa. Estos cambios han sido importantes etapas de desarrollo, que me han permitido clarificar y definir mi visión artística. A través de cambio y crecimiento que he ganado una multitud de habilidades y ampliar mi capacidad de expresar ideas en diversos medios… “ (citada de la declaración del artista)