Born
1974 in Israel
Artists
Shay KUN
Shay Kun, born in Israel in 1974, is known for his hyper-surrealist style. The oeuvre of Kun’s art work is embodied in three series, Tear Drops, Lift Off (Hot Air Balloons), and Slums.
As an artist who is firmly averse to painting from the real-world, Shay’s central focus is to contrast the decay of the artificial with that of the natural to create an organic digital removal from the original image. The images that attract and inspire the artist have been deconstructed and reproduced thoroughly. When struck by an image that overwhelms Shay, it prompts him to explore and dissect it, with his interest in the mechanism of perception as opposed to the actual subject.
His inspiration comes from a variety of sources, from the hand carved hot air balloon toys that his parents, both of whom are Holocaust survivors, brought with them to Israel, to urban war photography, and the perceptions and alterations of reality in computer games, simulation and other disaster spectacles, all of which he reconciles with the strong influence of 18th century European artwork and the Hudson River School.
Shay’s acute awareness of his specific place in today’s visual culture, somewhere between the historical concept of fine art and the contemporary deconstruction of digital and electronic imagery as a central concept to his generation, places his work in juxtaposition with that of his parents.
As an artist, who began painting at the age of just three years old, and with both parents as commercial artists, he has often wondered if becoming an artist was a part of his DNA. Both of his parents’ work is aimed at forging something new while creating artwork that is distinctly Israeli. His father’s work focuses on the decay and deterioration of landscape, while in contrast, his mother’s paintings looks toward the celebratory aspect of landscape, growth and nature in bloom.
For Shay Kun a series is never complete. He revisits each subject as his interpretation of reality and our ability to comprehend the representational evolves.
2000 1998 2022 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 1999 1992 2021 2020 2019 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 Hi Falutin’, Hi Kickin’, VTO Gallery, London, England 2000 1998 No relevant exhibition was found
Education
Fine Arts, Goldsmith College, University of London, London, UK
Fine Arts, Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design, Jerusalem, IsraelSolo Ehxibitions
Tears in Rain, Hezi Cohen Gallery, Tel-Aviv, Israel
You Had Me at Goodbye, two persons show, Lamontagne Gallery, Boston, USA
Communication Breakdown, Hezi Cohen Gallery, Tel-Aviv, Israel
Now hiring, 326 Gallery, New-York, UAS
Tower Brooke Headquarters, New York, USA
Slums, Expo Chicago solo, Chicago, USA
Revision, Aspen Art Gallery, Aspen, USA
Sum of Its Parts, Hezi Cohen Gallery, Tel-Aviv, Israel
Nature Does Not Know Extinction; All It Knows Is Transformation, D&F Contemporary, New York, USA
Disambiguation, Bill Lowe Gallery, Atlanta, USA
Uproar, Michael Schultz Gallery, Berlin, Germany
An Extra, Hezi Cohen Gallery, Tel-Aviv, Israel
Feast and Famine, Linda Warren Gallery, Chicago, USA
Domestic Sticky Wildlife, Martine Chaisson Gallery, New Orleans, USA
Be First, Be Smarter or Cheat, Benrimon Contemporary, New York, USA
Rebreather, Lamontagne Gallery, Boston, USA
VOLTA NY, “Take Off,” New York, USA
Exfoliations, Benrimon Contemporary, New York, USA
Overcast, Hezi Cohen Gallery, Tel-Aviv, Israel
Slack Tide, Lamontagne Gallery, Boston, USA
Opportunities multiply as they are seized, David Castillo Gallery, Miami, USA
Nails & Feathers, BUIA Gallery, New York, USA
Old Flames Don’t Die Out They Build New Fires, Tavi Dresdner Gallery, Tel-Aviv, Israel
Perversion Is The Love We Feel When Others Feel Love, SEVENTEEN Gallery, London, UK
Melting Midlands, BUIA Gallery, New York, USA
I Care Because You do Too, BUIA Gallery, New York, USA
Desktop-The Reunion, Efrat Gallery, Tel-Aviv, Israel
Gesher Gallery, Tel-Aviv, IsraelGroup Exhibitions
Reality…And Then Some II, Ric Michel Fine Art, Southampton, USA
Reality…And Then Some I, Ric Michel Fine Art, Southampton, USA
Conscious Shift, Wilshire Project, Los Angeles, USA
Bridgehampton Art Fair, Gallery M, New York, USA
Perceptions: Paintings by David Kessler and Shay Kun, Gold Gallery, Boston, MA Art New York, 326 Gallery, New York, USA
Human Condition, The Hospital, Los Angeles, USA
Post-Modernism ≠ Utopia, Haifa Museum of Art, Tel-Aviv, Israel
People, Places, & Things, 326 Gallery, New-York, USA
The Magical Mystery Tour, Marrow Gallery, San Francisco, USA
Black and White, Ameringer/Mcenery/Yohe Gallery, New-York, USA
Modern Man, Highfield Hall & Gardens, Falmouth, USA
Artissima Art Fair, Hezi Cohen Gallery, Turin, Italy Contemporary Painting, University of Saint Francis, Fort Wayne, USA
Cirrus, Dorfman Projects, New-York, USA
SEAL IT, SO.ARTODAY, Tiroche Gallery, Herzliya, Israel
From The Land of Everywhere, Victori Contemporary, New-York, USA
Far and Beyond, SO.ARTODAY, Tel Aviv, Israel
Art Work on Skateboards, De Buck Gallery, New-York, USA
Black and White, Lamontagne Gallery, Boston, USA
Rothfeld Collection, American University Museum, Washington, USA
PAN Amsterdam, Leslie Smith Gallery, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
‘Tierstucke’ group exhibition at the Museum Abtei Liesborn, Wadersloh-Liesborn, Germany
I Love Shanghai, ART LABOR Gallery, Shanghai, China
Contemplation, The Project Room, Chicago, USA
Jew York, Untitled Gallery, New York, USA
100 Little Deaths, BravinLee Programs, New York, USA
Summer Exhibition, Zemack Contemporary Art, Tel Aviv, Israel
Figuration Y?, Galerie Favardin & De Verneuil, Paris, France
Illoulian Contemporary, Los Angeles, USA
SIGHT (UN)SCENE, Benrimon Contemporary, New York, USA
Good Intentions, Hezi Cohen Gallery, Tel-Aviv, Israel
Russ and Liz Ultimate Playlist, Four Eleven Studio, Provincetown, USA
Update your Reality, Alexander Ochs Galleries, Berlin, Germany
Art Cologne, Alexander Ochs Galleries, Cologne, Germany
Savage Grace, Russell Projects, Richmond, USA
Pulse NY, Benrimon Contemporary, New York, USA
Fresh Paint, Israeli Art Fair, Tel Aviv, Israel
The Law of the Jungle, Lehmann Maupin Gallery, New York, USA
Interrupted Landscape, Champion Contemporary, Austin, USA
Generations, DNA Gallery, Provincetown, USA
Fresh Apples, Hezi Cohen Gallery, Tel-Aviv, Israel
Sky Was Yellow, Sun Was Blue, Russell Projects, Richmond, USA
LABA, 14TH Street Y, New York, USA
The Artist’s Guide to the L.A. Galaxy, West Los Angeles College Art Gallery, Los Angeles, USA
Animamix, The Shanghai Contemporary Art Museum, China
Golden Record: Sounds of Earth, The Collection, Lincoln, England
Three Painters, BUIA Gallery, New York, USA
In Your Face, BUIA Gallery, New York, USA
Pole Shift, Project Gentili, Berlin, Germany
Somewhere To Elsewhere, Linda Warren Gallery, Chicago, USA
Pulse Art Fair, Saatchi online, New York, USA
Golden Record, Collective Gallery, Edinburgh, Scotland
Fresh Paint, Israeli Art Fair, Tel Aviv, Israel
London Con]idential, MEWS 42, London, UK
Artfutures, Bloomberg Space, London, UK
Holiday!, BUIA Gallery, NY
…A Landscape Show, Samson Projects, Boston, USA
Slick Art Fair, Vanessa Suchar, Paris, France Sunny, Clear and Cool, BUIA Gallery, USA
The Most Curatorial Biennial, Apexart, USA
The Juddykes, John Jones Gallery, London, UK
Subreality, Aftermodern Gallery, San Francisco, USA
Reddot Art Fair, Vanessa Suchar booth, New York, USA
Invisible Jet, Buia Gallery, New York, USA
Winter Salon, Lesley Heller Gallery, NY Bridge Art Fair, Vanessa Suchar, Miami, USA
Art 212, Aftermodern Gallery, New York, USA
Learning How to Make New Friends, Mackb Gallery, Florida, USA
Shifting Landscapes, Aftermodern Gallery, San Francisco, USA
Breezer, BUIA Gallery, New York, USA
Draw_Drawing 2, The Foundry (in conjunction with London Biennial), London, UK
The Pop Art Show, The Kaufmann Arcade, New York, USA
Homeland Lessons, Loushy Art & Editions, Tel Aviv, Israel
A Shell of A Man, Loushy Art & Editions, Tel Aviv, Israel
Children of the Grave, the Agency, London, UK
Our World, World Arts Media, New York, USA
Utopia, Fournos Center For Digital Art, Athens, Greece
Poles Apart / Poles Together, 51st Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy
In the Ring, BUIA Gallery, New York, USA
This dream, America, Art League of Long Island, Dix Hills, USA
Tsunami Bene]it Auction, at Philips de Pury, New York, USA
Wandering, a part of Artis05′ (Israeli Art Week), Makor, USA
“…and death”, New Space Gallery, Manchester College, USA
Makor Artist in Residence, 92nd Street Y, New York, USA
Boundless Joint, Oslo, Norway
The Peekskill Project, HVCCA, Peekskill, USA
Wandering Library, Book Art Museum, Lodz, Poland
Draw_Drawing, Gallery 32 (in conjunction with London Biennial), London, UK
Primo, Buia Gallery, New York, USA
Feast or Famine: Artists and Food, DNA Gallery, Provincetown, USA
Social Order, Buia Gallery, New York, USA
Raid Projects, The Armory Show, New York, USA
Sub-Plot, Barthelemy Gallery, New York, USA
The Mouth Breathers, Nurture Art Gallery, New York, USA
Banners III, Lubbock, TX
The Bill Clinton Show, Locus Media Gallery, New York, USA
Puppy Love, Pelham Art Center, Westchester, USA
Eickholt Gallery, New York, USA
PoT, Joint Exhibition, Gallery Fortes Villaca, Sau Paulo, Brazil
PoT, Joint Exhibition, Liverpool Bianalle, Liverpool, England
Artists Respond, Joint Exhibition, Somerville Museum of Art, Boston, USA
Egotripping, Anthony Wilkinson Gallery, London, England
Plastic Sheet, A.A. Silver Gallery, Tel-Aviv, Israel
Cream, Rosenfeld Gallery, Tel-Aviv, Israel
Glamour Hammer, The Boxing Ring, London, England
Assembly, Royal College of Art and Goldsmiths College, Stepney City, London, England
Master’s Degree Show, Goldsmiths College, London, England
Outhouse, The Rich and Famous Gallery, London, England
Brainstorm, Curators’ Space, Goldsmiths College, London, England
Graduates’ Exhibition, Fine Arts Department, Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design, Jerusalem, Israel