6-Feet-Apart {Free Artist Talk on Zoom}

I will be presenting new work in an artist talk hosted by Magdalena Solé on February 26, 2021 at 2 p.m. ET— it’s a free Zoom meeting and all are welcome!

CLICK TO REGISTER >>

After sharing my inspiration and a glimpse into my creative process, I’ll discuss how I transitioned from the commercial photography to fine-art and offer perspective of the importance of strategic marketing to help build relationships with galleries, publishers, curators, and collectors. I’ll highlight a few of my lighting recipes from my project, “The Unchosen Ones” and share a sneak glimpse into new work.

Special thanks to Ewa Zebrowski for helping make this happen!

Recently completed print promos used to market new work, designed by Kevin Omura at Kuleana Design.

PaperCity - HCP Auction Preview

Bid high, big often! Special thank you to Haley Berkman Karren for mentioning my work in her PaperCity article, “Vaunted Photography Print Auction Celebrates 40 Years With New Treasures — 10 Beautiful Pieces to Bid On,” on February 8, 2021. Lots of amazing prints in the auction to include Cindy Sherman, Pentti Sammallahti, Adam Neese, and more! This is the 40th anniversary of the Houston Center for Photography (HCP), dedicated to promoting photography and pushing the medium forward since 1981. Yet, it won’t be the same without Clint Willour, who passed recently.

Karren writes, “I was introduced to R.J. Kern’s work when I met the photographer this past spring at the FotoFest Meeting Place Portfolio Review. Kern explores ideas of home, ancestry and place through the interaction of people, animals and cultural landscapes. In this beautiful and expansive photograph, Kern depicts Icelandic sheep roaming the edge of a lake. Kern draws influence from 19th-century landscape painters, particularly in their use of light and composition.”

More info on the 2021 Virtual Print Auction >>

Purchase tickets >>

“Vaunted Photography Print Auction Celebrates 40 Years With New Treasures — 10 Beautiful Pieces to Bid On,” by Haley Berkman Karren, PaperCity, February 8, 2021.

HCP Print Auction 2021

I’m excited to be apart of the Houston Center for Photography’s 2021 Virtual Print Auction. This is the second time I’ve participated and am happy to be in good company with fellow artist friends Susan Kae Grant, Robert Langham III (chief instigator), Pentti Sammallahti. It’s a great cause to support a wonderful photography organization. And they always do a wonderful job on designing and printing the auction catalogue >>. Online Bidding Begins Thursday, February 4, 2021. Auction: Thursday, February 18, 2021 @ 6 pm CST

I’ve donated this print, which I hope offers warmth and a bit of humor to the new collector. This bunch of marshmallow puff balls can’t wait for their new home!

The Lifeguards, Lake Myvatn, Iceland (2014), from the series Divine Animals: The Bovidae and published in The Sheep and the Goats (Kehrer Verlag, 2018). Edition 2 of 7 +AP, archival pigment print, 24.5 x 32 inches.

More info on the 2021 Virtual Print Auction >>

Purchase tickets >>

Bid high, big often!

MSAB Creative Support for Individuals Grant {Awarded}

I received word this week that the Minnesota State Arts Board awarded me a FY2021 Creative Support for Individuals Grant. I am especially grateful for the support, especially given the challenges of how the pandemic has changed the way I am able to connect with Minnesota communities. This grant will help me adapt to this changing environment, by maintaining visibility and staying connected to audiences, participants, students, and communities—both now and in the future.

My goal with this grant is to take the next big step of my project, The Unchosen Ones. I plan to edit and share a series of documentary vignettes (approximately six 4-6 minute videos), highlighting life skills learned by youth raising animals for county fair contests in Minnesota. While re-photographing over 50 participants (socially distant, of course) from July - October 2020, I set up a video camera and asked them a few important questions related to lessons learned since 2016. This will be a new challenge for me, as I will be learning all sorts of new skills related to video production. The resulting short videos will be released monthly, promoted on social media and the project website, www.unchosenones.org.

I am also working on a new book project and I hope the completed videos will help support the book project and traveling exhibition with Mid-Atlantic Arts Alliance (booking details here >>).

Behind-the-scenes of The Unchosen Ones project (2020) in Anoka County with Kol and Annabel (top) and Kenzi and Hootie (bottom).

Group Exhibition at Olson Larsen Gallery

I’m proud to share my work at Olson-Larsen Galleries with THE ANIMAL SHOW, October 9 - November 26, 2020, along with six other artists, all representing the animal kingdom including work by Michael Brangoccio, Kirsten Furlong, Paula Schuette Kraemer, Gary Olson, Randy Richmond, and Tilly Woodward. It has been a joy working with Alyss and Susan preparing for this show. The space is welcoming and warm, just like the people and art!

I will conduct an Instagram Live event on Oct 22 at 6:00pm CT with @olsonlarsengalleries. The Top 5 favorite questions will earn a little hand-written surprise by yours truly :) I’ll tell a few stories about my subjects featured in “The Animal Show,” including some of the most famous—and infamous—goats in the world published by Kehrer Verlag. Susan and Alyss will join me in a discussion about starting and building an art collection, too. Of course, we'll share our geeky enthusiasm on the topic including the top purchases related to collecting art under $100 we’ve made and more!

Virtual Artist Books (U of MN feature)

The University of Minnesota library recently shared an interview about virtual artists’ books, highlighting The Best of the Best: A Virtual Artist Book.

The idea of the artists’ book is that you are combining the aesthetic of an object with a concept,” says Deborah Ultan, Curator of the Francis V. Gorman Rare Art Books & Media Collection. “You’re creating something that is both visually exciting as much as or maybe more so even than the text.”

Click to read >>

Birds, Nest, and Nature {Exhibition}

Juried by Jeffrey De Blois, Assistant Curator, ICA Boston and Rebecca Lowery, Assistant Curator, MOCA Los Angeles, the exhibition includes over 150 local, national, and international artists inspired by the show theme at the Bedford Gallery in Walnut Creek, California. I’m proud to be apart of this show. And I’m particularly impressed how they’ve built a website to support the show, given the virtual exhibition.

My photograph, Supreme Champion Goose Male / Female Pair, 2018 Minnesota State Fair, (Salt print over archival pigment print, 20 x 24 inches) was chosen for exhibiton. This photograph just make me smile and is one of my favorites. The particular print I entered earlier this year has gone to a new home, so I created Edition 3/5 to support the exhibition (seen in installation photograph).

View the full gallery of works >>

Installation view at the Bedford Gallery, Walnut Creek, CA.

Minneapolis Institute of Art adds photograph into permanent collection

One of the nation’s leading encyclopedic art museums, the Minneapolis Institute of Art (Mia), recently accessioned one of my photographs into their permanent collection.

"In a year when state and county fairs have been prevented, it is all the more touching to have this photograph in our collection,” writes Casey Riley, PhD, curator and head of the Department of Photography and New Media.

The print acquisition, edition 10/10 of Kenzi and Hootie, Anoka County Fair, 2016, was a gift facilitated by Burnet Fine Art & Advisory. I thank Casey Riley for her support. She’s an amazing curator and leader in the arts community.

Museum acquisitions are important to an artist’s career. Curators can help promote an artist’s career in much the same way a food critic can make— or break— a chef’s career. I’m reminded of this watching my favorite Pixar movie, “Ratatouille,” in which a rat dreams of becoming a great chef, despite being in a rodent-phobic profession. 

For example, long-time curator, Ted Hartwell, who founded the photography department at the Minneapolis Institute of Art in 1972, helped photography gain acceptance in the art world by curating groundbreaking exhibitions by photographers such as heroes Richard Avedon and Henri Cartier-Bresson while promoting careers of Minneapolis photographers such as Tom Arndt and Stuart Klipper (I call both friends and have enjoyed swapping a print or two with over the years).

The Minneapolis Institute of Art has been important to me since my fine-art photography interests began to grow. During winter doldrums and snow storms, I would visit to gain inspiration. I love the free admission and award-winning educational programming. Seeing school children discovering art in the hallowed halls of “the house that Ted built” gives me great joy, and education, too. I always learn a thing or two when I visit, usually documented in my notebook. I would take special notes about the meticulous framing and presentation of work, or about what the artist says about the work (especially vocabulary used). My visits would bring joy seeing the brushstrokes revealing shadow detail in a painting created hundreds of years ago, or appreciating nuances in an early albumen prints by photography pioneers. My brain is pushed to figure out work I don’t initially understand—but work that curators deem culture should understand.

Visiting museums—especially the free ones— is a gift which allows me to better understand history, culture, and life. Often art addresses 'issues' in a way, well, that can’t be expressed any other way. I’m proud to help support such a special museum.

Honorable Mention: MN State Fair

While the 2020 Minnesota State Fair is not happening this year, I’m excited the show goes on at the Fine Arts exhibition. I was a bit apprehensive this year submitting work, as the risk of rejection is always a possibility.

I am excited not only to be accepted into the 108th Minnesota State Fair Fine Arts Exhibition, but I received an Honorable Mention by photography juror Buck Holzemer for my photograph, Holy Cow (Quarantined greater than 14 Days). It still offers me humor, despite COVID-19 times.

And some wonderful press for the show including a few mentions of my work:

• "State Fair fine arts 2020: immediate, urgent, of-the-moment,” by Pamela Espeland, MinnPost

• “While State Fair was canceled, the show goes on at its Fine Arts hall”, by Alicia Eler, Star Tribune

I’ll be hanging out 6pm on Saturday, August 29 (date night), enjoying my favorite art event of the year!

And some screen grabs from the really cool virtual tour of the exhibition >>

I was also surprised to see Stuart Klipper’s photograph (he’s a friend that lives a few blocks away), hang a few pieces to the left of mine.

Minneapolis - St Paul International Airport exhibition

The messages of “The Unchosen Ones” will be shared until January 2021, Terminal 1 at MSP. Weary travelers: it’s 100 feet from Starbucks. Thank you @artsatmsp for this opportunity to engage new audiences. This artist is giddy inside.

The Artist Book Edition includes essays by independent curator Alison Nordström, PhD and Joe Scapanski, Minnesota State Fair Board of Managers.

The Best of the Best: A Virtual Artist Book (Now Available)

Born during COVID-19 times, this virtual artist book showcases a collaboration between a range of artisans, writers, arts librarians, curators, and contributors in the photographic book project, The Best of the Best. This product is available on a sharable digital platform, secured by password-protection, available to stream in Standard Definition (SD) or High Definition (HD).

The Best of the Best: A Virtual Artist Book features over a dozen components including video interviews, conversations, Q&A’s, interactive narratives, time-lapse documentaries, stop-motion animation, behind-the-scenes tutorials, and a virtual Instagram Live (IGTV) component, and of course all the essays and images and a digital signature page, too—all rooted to The Best of the Best project. Over 2 hours of recorded video footage created during self-isolation during COVID-19 times (June/July 2020).

The virtual book artist book will be produced in a limited edition of 24 + 4APs. This pays homage to the limited-edition nature of artist’s books as well as the 24 animals that participated in this project.

Purchase of The Best of the Best: A Virtual Artist Book may be credited towards the acquisition of The Best of the Best artist book, terms apply. Purchases are non-transferable, however may be shared on a .edu, .org, or .gov website or network affiliated with purchaser.

Learn more about The Best of the Best:

• fine art photographic series click here >>

• limited-edition (edition of 12) artist book click here >>

Purchase

Your support helps sustain on-going artist initiatives including community engagement through local exhibitions, artist talks, creative collaborations, and sharing the enthusiasm of “The Best of the Best” to communities across the globe.

Instagram LIVE event, May 22, Watermark Art Center

Join me here on Instagram Live “Meet the Artist” event at the Watermark Art Center, Friday May 22, 2020 at 5:30pm CT. The “Meet the Artist” is a virtual program that hosts artists and provides an informal discussion with them to present work, share about process and inspiration, and answer questions.

Topics:

• I’ll walk through my exhibition, The Unchosen Ones, sharing inspiration and process

• I’ll discuss the unique framing system used to present my 43 x 53 inch prints and why I chose to use it.

• I’ll share tips for optimal sales in the #ArtistSupportPledge and #PhotographerSupportPledge I recently participated in which can be viewed HERE>>

 I’ll be also taking questions which you can DM to @WatermarkArtCenter in advance of the event or during the presentation. Everyone who asks a question will have their name entered into a random drawing for a signed copy of my book, The Sheep and the Goats.

To watch and/or participate: make sure you are following Watermark Art Center on Instagram, post questions in advance or during the Instagram Live event.

Thanks to Springboard for the Art’s Coronavirus Emergency Relief Fund for funding this event. The exhibition is sponsored by First National Bank Bemidji.

Photo by Roberto Grosse.

Fraction, 12th Anniversary Exhibiton

Honored to be apart of the 12th Anniversary Group Exhibition, Fraction, Issue 134, May 2020.

Featured was a photograph from my series The Best of the Best, Supreme Champion Turkey Male / Female Pair, 2018 Minnesota State Fair, a 20 x 24 inch salt over archival pigment print (Ed 2 of 5 + 2AP featured).

Thank you David Bram and Bree Lamb!

http://www.fractionmagazine.com/issue-134

Artists include: Michael Amato, Kalee Appleton, Kseniya Apresyan, Mikey Baratta, Raphael Begay, Michael Behlen, Christopher Bennett, Per Bjesse, Christa Blackwood, Michael Borowski, Frances Bukovsky, William Castellana, Heidi Clapp Temple, Noemi Comi, Charmaine de Heij, Angela Di Finizio, Claire Droppert, Sean Du, Jean-Luc Feixa, Matthew Finley, Nate Francis, Daniel George, Lauren Greenwald, Alexandra Gromova, Karla Guerrero, Deming Haines, Zhou HanShun, Kathleen Hawkes, Amy Herman, Kevin Hoth, Megan Jacobs, Kevin Jones, Neal Parker Johnson, Marcy Juran, R. J. Kern, Kevin Michael Klipfel, Epiphany Knedler, Vassilis Konstantinou, Eric Kunsman, Anna Lazareva, Deb Leal, Frank Machalowski, Mila Maes, Steven Marks, Robert Maury McGinnis, Abbey Meaker, Susan Metzger, Diane Meyer, Penny Molesso, Chris Mortensen, Anikke Myers, Kazunori Nagashima, Laura Noel, Amy Parrish, Evan Perkins, Sarah Pfohl, Andrea Poulsen, Janet Pritchard, Mark Rammers, André Duane Ramos-Woodward, Suzanne Révy, Adam Reynolds, Juan Rodriguez Morales, Oleksandr Rupeta, Adnan Rusdi, Ioanna Sakellaraki, Wendi Schneider, Leah Schretenthaler, Tom Sebastiano, Kristina Sergeeva, Abhishek Singh, Forrest Simmons, Paul Sisson, Susan Lynn Smith, Deanne Sokolin, Bonta Teresa, Amy Thompson-Avishai, Alex Turner, Brian Van Lau, Wouter Vanhees, Martin Wannam, Wendel White, Ashley Whitt, Emily Wiethorn, Becky Wilkes, Sara Winston, Dima Zharov

Recipient, Springboard for the Arts Fund

Thank you to the Springboard for the Arts for providing me with a bit of relief through their Coronavirus Emergency Relief Fund.

If you are an a MN Artist, I encourage you to apply: https://springboardforthearts.org/additional-resources/personal-emergency-relief-fund/

They have also launched some good programming and resources to support artists and creative workers during these times including:

• Coronavirus Resources page including emergency funding, legal support, health, mental health, and basic needs resources: https://springboardforthearts.org/coronavirus/

• FAQs on navigating Unemployment Insurance for artists and creative workers: https://springboardforthearts.org/resources-access/legal-assistance/coronavirus/

FotoFest 2020 highlights

It’s been over six weeks since I returned from FotoFest in Houston, (pre-COVID shutdown). I had a wonderful time and rank it among my top portfolio review experiences. It was well-organized and I enjoyed the “flow” of the four-days of intense reviews, networking, sharing, and camaraderie. I feel fortunate that photographers have portfolio reviews to share work with collectors, curators, editors, and book publishers sitting across the table. My outcomes are still in fruition, however the investment was fully realized before I returned home (on a pretty much empty airplane). I come for the opportunities and stay for the friends.

Aline Smithson shares on Lenscratch (READ HERE >>) one of the highlights of FotoFest, being shadowed by a student from Lamar University, Brandi Hamilton who shares what she learned from the Houston experience . Aline had asked me to share a few photos from my experience to accompany the article, which I much obliged.

Carlos De Santos enjoys acquiring prints and limited edition books during the reviews.

Mary Stanley gets the award for the most colorful fun attire!

Audrey Sands from the Center of Creative Photography enjoys smelling a salt print folio varnished with lavender oil and white beeswax.

Carey Russell, Susan kae Grant, And Robert Langham III taking a break from reviews and sharing work at The Whitehall hotel in Houston.

DM Whitman gets her first museum acquisition with support of Malcolm Daniel and Anne Tucker, after the reviews.

After hours portfolio sharing, until midnight, a the Whitehall hotel in Houston.

Group dinner, perhaps one of the last before the COVID+ social distancing became commonplace.

Watermark Art Center solo exhibition

Despite the impact of COVID-19, the Watermark Art Center celebrated a “virtual opening exhibition” at their beautiful gallery in Bemidji, MN. Thank you to Lori Forshee and her husband for hanging the show. The art center is right near a major intersection, so folks passing by will have something to look at. Good thing for large 53” prints that can be see from the street!

The local radio station, KAXE / KBXE interviewed me on the Morning Show. Thank you to Katie Carter, Heidi Holtan, and John Bauer for the thoughtful questions and lovely press.

Listen to the interview directly linked here >> 

View the virtual exhibit here >>

Thank you to First National Bank Bemidji for sponsoring the exhibition and the Minnesota State Arts Board for their support of this project.

Anna and Helen, Blue Earth County Fair, 2016 from the series The Unchosen Ones exhibited at the Watermark Art Center April 3 - May 30, 2020.

AINT BAD

I met Taylor Curry and Carson Sanders (Co-Owner / Publisher of Aint-Bad) at FotoFest last week, just before it was cancelled due to COVID-19. They enjoyed The Best of the Best and gave it some love and shared on their social media channels. Thanks, gents! Here’s the profile >>

Supreme Champion Stock Dog Male / Female Pair, 2018 Minnesota State Fair, salt print over archival pigment print, Edition of 5 sized 20 x 24 inches , Edition of 10 sized 8 x 10 inches.

Love, Minnesota - group exhibition

What makes Minnesota so unique? Is it its people? It’s weather? Its landmarks? Minnesota has helped give rise to some amazing talents - from The Replacements, Judy Garland, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Bob Dylan, Prince and now Lizzo - and is consistently ranked in the top states to live in in the US. Minnesota is diverse, accepting, thriving, colloquial, and proud. 

This show brings together a dozen Minnesota-based artists in an exhibition to celebrate Minnesota. From distinctive landscapes and portraits, abstract paintings and figurative works, each artist will present art that captures how Minnesota has inspired them, whether it be its people, places, icons or animals. The exhibition will be hosted at the Kristi Abbott Gallery & Studio in Minneapolis.  Big thanks to Kristi for inviting me to join in this ‘collaborative exhibition.’

Exhibition Dates:
Opening Reception - March 5th, 2020 - 7pm - 11pm
Closing Party - April 10th, 2020 - 5pm - 9pm

Exhibiting Artists:
Kristi Abbott, Ta-coumba T. Aiken, Shane Anderson, Linda Clayton Behr, Christina Rossi Hankins, Coreen Johnson, R. J. Kern, Sue Mooney, Alison Price, Heather Renaux, Greta Kusilek Sandquist, and Adam Turman.

A group exhibition of Minnesota-based artists, Kristi Abbott Gallery & Studio, March 5 - April 10, 2020.

FotoFest 2020

I’m excited to participate in FotoFest 2020, one of the largest portfolio reviews in the world for photographers. While this is my first time to this particular review with an international emphasis, it will be my seventh multi-day portfolio review since 2015. I look forward to connecting with photography curators: Anne W. Tucker and Malcolm Daniel (The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston), Gregory Harris (High Museum of Art), Jessica S. McDonald (Harry Ransom Center), and Natasha Egan (Museum of Contemporary Photography), Marta Weiss (Victoria & Albert Museum). I also look forward to connect with gallerists Laura Noble (L A Noble Gallery) and Douglas Marshall (Marshall Contemporary) and meeting lots of new collectors and photography friends.

I’ve created this little portfolio leave-behind specific to the event which will also serve as a memorable marketing piece for collectors of my work— they can tape it to the back of the framed print for a full overview of the work in a tidy document. Have a look:

View this post on Instagram

Creating memorable ‘leave-behinds’ are now becoming an Olympic sport! With my #fotofest leave-behinds, I’m going for an academic marketing approach to promote three completed photography projects: The Sheep and the Goats, The Unchosen Ones, and The Best of the Best. The brochure includes installation views, full artist statements, essay excerpts by curators Anjuli Lebowitz, Alison Nordström, and Lisa Volpe. There’s also a lovely testimonial by Corey Keller, too. . @maryvirginiaswanson I tried to remember important details from #mvsmasterclass2018 like important calls to action including ‘How to Purchase Artwork’ and ‘How to Schedule.' Thank you to @sonjariegerphotography for the inspiration, @burnetart for the support. Mom and Dad helped to proof, too! . Design: Kevin Omura, Kuleana Design. Printed by PS Print. . @coreykeller510 @lismvolpe @anjulilebowitz @alison.nordstrom #fotofest2020 #theunchosenones #rjkern #thebestofthebestmn #thesheepandthegoats

A post shared by R. J. Kern (@kernphoto) on Feb 19, 2020 at 10:07am PST

United Nations of Photography {Podcast Interview}

In episode 89, UNP founder and curator Grant Scott interviewed me in his podcast, A Photographic Life. In the podcast, he talked about the purpose of a photo book, the pressure put on photographers, and the rise of the ‘photo-entrepreneur’. In the podcast, he asked for an audio response to the question: ‘What Does Photography Mean to You?’ CLICK HERE TO LISTEN >>

Grant Scott also directed one of my favorite recent films about photography, a documentary film, Do Not Bend: The Photographic Life of Bill Jay which features folks I adore such as Magnum Photographer David Hurn and photo consultant Mary Virginia Swanson. Stream the documentary on YouTube here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=wd47549knOU&t=3915s.

Grant Scott interviews R. J. Kern in the podcast, A Photographic Life, on January 8, 2020.