Born in 1945 in Richmond, Virginia, Kerns started painting at a young age. He attended the Richmond Professional Institute, receiving his BFA in 1967. He went on to the Maryland Institute, where he studied with painter Grace Hartigan. Here, Kerns received the Hoffberger Fellowship and graduated with an MFA in 1969.[1]
Painting career
Kerns first gained exposure in 1972, when he was commissioned by art collector Larry Aldrich to paint 100 paintings over the course of the year as gifts.[2] That same year, Kerns had his first solo art show at the AM Sachs Gallery in New York. Over the course of the 1970s and 80s, Kerns formed a close partnership with the Rosa Esman Gallery and exhibited ten solo shows there.
Of his work in the late 1970s and early 80s, gallery coordinator Judith Stein says, “He works slowly, creating no more than ten large paintings a year. His media are acrylic, sand, and thread, the last used to stitch together sections of canvas. Often plywood or Upson board is used as support.”[3]
Teaching
Kerns began teaching in 1970, as an art teacher at the Bentley School in New York City.[4] In 1972, he became head of the Art Department at the Baldwin School, and 1974, he headed the Art Department of Friends Seminary. In 1980, he left Friends Academy and moved to Easton, Pennsylvania, where he became the Head of Lafayette College’s Art Department.[5] In 1988, he was selected to serve as the first Eugene H. Clapp II Professor of the Humanities at Lafayette College.[6]
Collaborations
In 1989, Kerns collaborated with poet Lee Upton on a series of paintings. The series culminated in a show, A Collaboration of Poetry and Images, which was exhibited throughout Pennsylvania.[7] Kerns has also collaborated with Rev. Ted Loder, illustrating four books written by the reverend.[8]
In 2007, Kerns collaborated with artist Elizabeth Chapman on “Word, City, Mind: A Universal Resonance,” an exhibit that used "paint, text, collage, and image, the exhibit focuses on the resonance between neurological, cosmic, and man-made forms".[9]
Exhibitions
Solo exhibitions
2008 "Word, City, Mind: A Universal Resonance," Skillman Library, Lafayette College, Easton, Pennsylvania
1976 "Ed Kerns, Paintings," Rosa Esman Gallery, New York, New York
1975 "Ed Kerns," Rosa Esman Gallery, New York, New York
1974 "Ed Kerns, Paintings," Rosa Esman gallery, New York, New York
"Ed Kerns," A.M. Sachs Gallery, New York, New York
1972 "Ed Kerns," A.M. Sachs Gallery, New York, New York
Collaborations
2003 "Evolution"- Ed Kerns and Tom DiGiovanni, Main Stage Theatre of Williams Performing Arts Center, Lafayette College, Easton, Pennsylvania
1991 “A Collaboration of Poetry and Images,” Ed Kerns and Lee Upton, University Science Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
1990 “A Collaboration of Poetry and Images,” Ed Kerns and Lee Upton, Villanova University, Villanova, Pennsylvania
“A Collaboration of Poetry and Images,” Ed Kerns and Lee Upton, Lafayette College Art Gallery, Easton, Pennsylvania; Open Space Art Gallery, Allentown, Pennsylvania
Group exhibitions
2007 "Hot Topic: Meditations on Global Warming," The Arts Center Gallery at Germantown Academy, Fort Washington, Pennsylvania
"Neuroscience and the Artistic Process," Muhlenberg College Center for the Arts, Allentown, Pennsylvania
2006 "Hypertexturalities:Architectures and Morphologies," Florence Lynch Gallery, New York, New York curated by Lee Klein
"The Mind of Nature: Structures and Processes," Taipei Culture Foundation, Taipei, Taiwan
"Ed Kerns, Lew Minter, Jim Toia Visiting American Artists," Taipei Artists Village, Taipei, Taiwan
2004 "Synthesis: Experiments in Collaboration" Axel Raben Gallery, New York, New York
2003 "Synthesis: Experiments in Collaboration," Lafayette College, Williams Visual Arts Building, Grossman Gallery, Easton, Pennsylvania
"Thinking in Line: A Survey of Contemporary Drawing," University Gallery, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida
"Hyper Texture: Fabian Marcaccio, David Reed, Pia Fries, Ed Kerns, and Roy Lerner," The Florence Lynch Gallery, New York, New York curated by Lee Klein
"Michael Goldberg, Grace Hartigan, Mary Frank, and Ed Kerns," Seraphin Gallery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
