mnartists.org

or go to the advanced search page

Karl Unnasch

+ Add to Collection

Contact Information

contact name: Karl Unnasch
phone: 507-272-0452
email: karl@karlunnasch.com

location address:
29803 Hot Iron Dr.
Chatfield MN 55923

open to public: yes
hours: evenings

mailing address:
31314 Hwy 30
Chatfield MN 55923

Related Organizations:
Minnesota Citizens for the Arts
Southeastern Minnesota Arts Council

Experience

 EDUCATION
2003                        MFA, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, Dartmouth, Massachusetts
1995                        BFA, Winona State University, Winona, Minnesota
 
 

 

Awards

GRANTS
2007                        (Southeastern Minnesota Arts Council), support grant recipient
2005                        (Southeastern Minnesota Arts Council), support grant recipient
1999                        Jerome Foundation, support grant recipient
                                (Southeastern Minnesota Arts Council), support grant recipient
1998                        (Southeastern Minnesota Arts Council), support grant recipient
1997                        (Southeastern Minnesota Arts Council), support grant recipient
 
FELLOWSHIPS
2007                        McKnight Minnesota Visual Arts Fellowship (finalist)



ARTIST IN RESIDENCY
2009                        Kohler Artist in Residence (accepted), Sheboygan, WI
Sculpture Space Residency, Utica, NY
2008                        Standard Issue Iron Pour 2 (director), rural Chatfield, MN
2007                        Kohler Artist in Residence (finalist and alternate)
Standard Issue Iron Pour Residency (director), rural Chatfield, MN
2002                        Iron Rodeo, Maryhill Museum of Art, Maryhill, WA
2000                        Artist in Residence, St. John’s Pottery, Collegeville, MN
1999                        The 3rd Annual US/UK Contemporary Cast Iron Sculpture Seminar and Pour, Laxfield, Suffolk, UK


 

Exhibitions/Performance History

EXHIBITIONS
2008                        ONE INCH PUNCH, solo, Rochester Art Center, Rochester, MN
                                ZOOLOGICA FANTASTICA, Cantor Art Gallery, College of the Holy Cross, Worchester, MA
2007                        FERROUS AURORA, Lizzards Art Gallery, Duluth, MN
COMMONWEAL STASH, Commonweal Theatre, Lanesboro, MN
HEAD ACRES, The Berwick Institute, Boston, MA
FISH & CHIPS, Cornucopia Art Center, Lanesboro, MN
DEATH BECOMES THEM, Luckystar Gallery, Milwaukee, WI
RECLAIMED, New Bedford Art Museum, New Bedford, MA
SQUARE OFF, Luckystar Art Gallery, Chicago, IL
2006                        EDGES OF GRACE, Fuller Museum, Brockon, MA
                                MIX PLATE SPECIAL, Cast Iron Invitational, Winona, MN
NATURE CALLS, University of Wisconsin, LaCrosse, WI
PENSIVE COLLISIONS (solo), Cornucopia Art Center, Lanesboro, MN
LIFE AND DEATH, M-80 gallery, Milwaukee, WI
2005                        SURREAL VIGNETTES (solo), Ohio University, Athens, OH
                                DEGENERATE MAGAZINES, Dollhaus Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2004                        DOLLHOUSES AT THE DOLLHAUS, Dollhaus Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
MOVE, Rochester Art Center, Rochester, MN
URBAN VIGNETTES (solo), The Artists Foundation, S. Boston, MA
TACTICAL INTERVENTIONS (with Spurse), Mass Moca, North Adams, MA
ENCHANTMENTS, Wave Hill, Bronx, NY
FOR THE BIRDS, Artspace, New Haven, CN
2003                        CREEP SHOW, Varnish Fine Art, San Francisco, CA
                                BRAVE DESTINY, Williamsburg Art and Historical Center, Brooklyn, NY
                                MASTERS THESIS SHOW, CVPA Star Store, New Bedford, MA
IRON BUTTERFLY, Franconia Sculpture Park, Shafer, MN
                                IRON RODEO, Center on Contemporary Art, Seattle, WA
2002                        BODY OF CLAY, SOUL OF FIRE, traveling exhibition, MN & SD
2001                        FROM THE EDGE, Bloomington Art Center, Bloomington, MN
2000                        WINTER JURIED SHOW, The Art Complex Museum, Duxbury, MA
                                ART AT THE CAPITOL, Senate offices, St. Paul, MA
1999                        Gateway Sculpture Park, Minneapolis, MN
                                NATIVE SONS, Cornucopia Arts Center, Lanesboro, MN
1998                        SUMMER INSTALLATION, Franconia Sculpture Park, Shafer, MN
BORDER TO BORDER, Minnesota State Arts Board gallery, St. Paul, MN

Galleries

Regis Center for Art, Minneapolis, Minnesota
M-80, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Mass MoCA, North Adams, Massachusetts
Luckystar Gallery, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Gallery 13, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Varnish Fine Art, San Francisco, California
Cornucopia Art Center, Lanesboro, Minnesota

Publications

STATEMENT
 
I am interested in the societal bandwidth I call “peripheral artistic culture,” or “hobbyism” as a creative pursuit whose end results are honestly, passionately, and often obsessively sought for the enjoyment and satisfaction of an audience of one; the self.  It is the very parallels I draw between peripheral artistic culture and islolationism that I find to be of utmost importance.  These parallels serve to symbolically buttress my portrayals of the clashes between order (urbanization) and entropy (nature).  These clashes are quietly referenced in the miniature landscapes constructed upon/within the work.  Reclaimed urban detritus such as salvaged objects and dead fauna are selected as physical and subjective foundations.  Dead organic matter and scrap debris are often seen as unpleasant or ugly, hence fantastic settings are pieced together upon these harsh realities of death and loss as a means of escape from horror, investigation of subject, and consideration of beauty.  Often I work to draw the viewer toward points of interest and contemplation within these works by changing the familiar context of the materials and narrative(s).  As the viewer is seduced to approach, one will discover various adjusted stages whereby a former familiar observation is stripped away and an entirely new prospect is revealed.

 

Biographical Information

Country of Citizenship:
United States

Gender:
Male

Active Place:
Minnesota

Minnesota County:
Fillmore