Artist of the day: Artist of the Day, April 13, 2022: Kris Kuksi, an American artist, sculptor (#1544)

Kris Kuksi is an American artist in the genre of Surrealism. Kuksi's work has been displayed at more than 100 exhibitions worldwide, including satellite art fairs of Art Basel, Pulse (Los Angeles and Miami) and Scope (Basel and Miami), Liste Köln during the Cologne Art Fair in Germany and the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery in the juried show "The Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition exhibition. He has also been featured on the front covers of Philosophie and Bl!sss Magazine, and his work is owned by collectors ranging from film director Guillermo del Toro to the Ellis County Bar Association in Kansas.

Kuksi attained a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Studio Painting in 1998 from Fort Hays State University, Hays in Kansas. He then completed a seminar on Studio Painting at Santa Reparata International School of Art in Florence, Italy in 2001.[citation needed] Kris Kuksi also received a Master of Fine Arts in Studio Painting from Fort Hays State University in 2002.[citation needed] Kuksi has also completed seminars in "Old Masters – New Visions" in Austria and Germany, in 2002 and 2005 respectively.

Kuksi's influences include the Baroque and Rococo periods. He has described how he feels more in belonging to the 'Old World' and that his artwork is very much a reaction to "the corrupt and demoralized fall of modern-day society – a place where new beginnings, new wars, new philosophies, and new endings exist."

Kuksi cuts and reshapes old objects, small toys, mechanical components and other parts and refashions them into works of art that bear little resemblance to the original appearance. A wide range of materials are utilized, including model parts, wood and metal.[citation needed] The artist describes these as 'mixed media' that are melded by "a flowing composition and visual balance." Kuksi's work often combines images in disconcerting ways, such as "Churchtank" which merges images of religion and warfare. The artist collects material from around the world for the assemblages, with components coming from Ukraine, Germany, Prague, Philippines, Lithuania, Japan and Singapore. Items are either bought in person or delivered to his studio in Lawrence, Kansas.

Kuksi has studied with established artists in Italy, Austria and Spain, including participating in several international workshops including "Painting the Fantastic" with Robert Venosa in Italy, "Old Masters New Visions Seminar" with Philip Rubinov Jacobson in Austria and "Painting Dali's Garden", with Venosa in Spain.

Kuksi's work has been described as "mind-blowing, macabre and beautifully grotesque art…[that] will taunt you by the sheer complexity of detail, leaving you even more baffled as you stare for hours at all the figurines that were smacked into coexistence." In a review of his 2003 solo show in Washington, D.C.'s Fraser Gallery, Washington Post art critic Michael O'Sullivan described his drawings as "masterfully rendered figurative art." The end result has been described as "intricately polarized narratives of the balance between good and evil, left and right, night and day, past and future." Kuksi has featured in more than 100 exhibitions worldwide, including Art Basel, Miami, Berlin, the Cologne Art Fair in Germany and the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery. He has won a number of awards including the Award of Merit from Williamsburg Art and Historical Center, and the First Place Award from Direct Art Magazine. Additionally, Kuksi has been featured in books on sculpture and modern art, such as "Device Volume II: Reconstructed," and "Spider Pie." Kuksi's work can also been found on the front covers of Philosophie[4] and Bl!sss Magazine. He has sold works of art at auction through Sotheby's Collectors of Kuksi pieces include Kay Alden, actor Robin Williams, musician and director Fred Durst, director Chris Weitz, director Guillermo del Toro, Nike CEO Mark Parker, and the Ellis County Bar Association in Kansas.

He currently works and lives out of Lawrence, Kansas

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