What is my work about?
Both my source material and chosen medium of painting could be understood as intermediaries for person-to-person connectivity. The source materials: online auction photos, massage parlor window displays, and long distance phonecards, each function as interfaces for exchange in various ways. They also share a visual layout that aims for clarity, but often instead obscures, distorts, or distracts, adding layers of mystery to their intended message. I’ve been interested in positing painting in a similar kind of role, as an imperfect conduit for exchange, and try to exploit its ability to encapsulate the disconnections and misfires inherent in representation and communication.
Artist Statement
I work in series that are dependent to an extent on source material. The source material is usually something I come across that triggers ideas or is perhaps evocative in a way. The paintings that follow are loosely tied to a certain format that relates back in someway to these sources.
Images 1-8 are examples from a series of paintings that started with looking at photographs that accompany record auctions online. The work is less concerned with the specificities of this reference and more involved with an idea of exchange on a pictoral level. For instance, how little information is necessary to give an illusion of space or representation of structure.
While working on the phone card paintings series, I started noticing and photographing the window displays of massage parlors that seem to dot every street corner throughout Brooklyn and Manhattan. They share a similar design to the phone cards, a shallow background on which words seem to float. Images 9, 10, and 11, are of paintings from this series.
Images 12-19 are from a series of paintings based on long distance phonecards. The paintings range in sizes but are each close to the dimensions of a card. Image 19 shows an artist’s edition that is comprised of a custom designed plexi-glass box and a collection of these paintings printed back into card format.
CV
Education
2008 Master of Fine Arts, Painting, Columbia University, New York, NY
2001 Bachelor of Art, English Literature, minor, Women and the Fine Arts, Concordia University, Montreal, Canada
1998 Foundation Studies Certificate, General Fine Arts, Ontario College of Art and Design, Toronto, Canada
Awards and Fellowships
2007 Andrew Fisher Fellowship Fund, Columbia University, New York, NY
2007 Faber Birren Scholarship Fund, Columbia University, New York, NY
2007 Agnes Martin Fellowship Fund, Columbia University, New York, NY
2006 Agnes Martin Fellowship Fund, Columbia University, New York, NY
Solo/Two person shows
2014 Know More Games, Brooklyn, NY, collaboration with Mira Dancy, upcoming
2015 Night Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, Project Room, upcoming
Selected Group Exhibitions
2013
Paper Cuts Booth, New York Art Book Fair, MoMA PS1, Queens, NY
2012
REMOTE BURIAL, Get Weird Sessions, New Museum, New York, NY
Invagination Requires Write to Life, Night Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Hot German Painting, H.E.N.S., Brooklyn, NY
Hunger is Real, Invagination 3, H.E.N.S., Brooklyn, NY
2011
Any form can be transformed into another form, Historic House, Brooklyn, NY
Woman to Woman, Invagination 2, Kara Walker’s studio, New York, NY
2010
Invagination, death of a hamster, Kara Walker’s studio, New York, NY
2009
Keil Bormman, I have not painted for a year, I have listened to my stereo, The Suburban, Chicago, Illinois
2008
Hermann’s Grid, Franco Soffiantino Arte Contemporanea, Turin, Italy
Columbia University MFA Thesis Show, Emily Fisher Landau Center, Queens, NY
2007
Bucket of Ice, Co-Lab, Copenhagen, Denmark
First Year Show, Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Gallery, New York, NY
2003
Visions in Feminism, Annapolis Hall, University of Maryland, College Park, MD
WCPR Benefit, La Casa, Washington, D.C.
2002
Sonic Circuits Festival, Mission Media Space, Baltimore, MD
Ladyfest Benefit, FAB Gallery, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA
Portraits, West Gallery, University of Maryland, College Park, MD
Organized Shows
2002
Fast Forward, District of Columbia Arts Center, Washington, D.C.
2001
Video Knights, District of Columbia Arts Center, Washington, D.C.
2000
The Looks, The Black Cat, Washington, D.C.
Collaborations, Bands
MADAM, artist collective, 2010- present
Remote Burial, 4 piece band, 2010-2012
Et At It, instrumental trio, 2001-2003
Domestic Tar Petal, dance group, 2003
Ra Ra Fre+Am, acoustic quartet, 2000-2001
Bibliography
2009
Keil Borrman, I have not painted in a year, I have listened to my stereo, Steve Ruiz, Weekend Preview, www.chicagoartreview.com, July, 30th, 2009.
2008
Hermann’s Grid, Silvana Morino, Juliet, December 2008.
Hermann’s Grid, Davide Angerame, www.exibart.com, October 7, 2008.
2007
Cali in Copenhagen, Art Review Weekly Newspaper, summer, 2007.
2004
Bull Tongue, Byron Coley and Thurston Moore, Arthur, November, 2004.
Taking Liberties, Keith McCrea, Clamor, July/August, 2004.
Best band to render Led Zeppelin obsolete, Et At It, Peter Jospeh, www.popmatters.com, Summer 2004.
Teaching Experience
2014
Instructor, Cooper Union, School of Continued and Professional Studies, New York, NY
Drawing for Absolute Beginners, Continuing Education Art Course, Summer Semester
Instructor, Cooper Union, School of Continued and Professional Studies, New York, NY
Drawing for Absolute Beginners, Continuing Education Art Course, Spring Semester
2013
Instructor, Cooper Union, School of Continued and Professional Studies, New York, NY
Drawing for Absolute Beginners, Continuing Education Art Course, Fall Semester
2010
Adjunct Professor, Columbia University, School of the Arts, New York, NY
Basic Drawing, Undergraduate Course, Spring Semester
2008
Adjunct Professor, Columbia University, School of the Arts, New York, NY
Painting Fundamentals, Undergraduate Course, Summer Session
Assistant Professor, Columbia University, School of the Arts, New York, NY
Painting I, Undergraduate Course, Spring Semester
2007
Assistant Professor, Columbia University, School of the Arts, New York, NY
Basic Drawing, Undergraduate Course, Spring Semester
Professional Service
2013
Hampshire College, Amherst, MA, Studio visit with Painting III students
2012
Rutgers University, Camden, NJ, Undergraduate; Studio visit with Painting III students
2011
Cooper Union, New York, New York; Studio visit with Undergraduate Painting Seminar Students
2008
Admissions Committee Member, Columbia University, New York, NY; Interviewed and evaluated prospective applicants to Columbia’s MFA Painting division.