Robert Kushner is a painter and a sculptor. He gained attention in the early seventies as a performance artist, using food, fabric and nudity. Kushner was associated with the Pattern and Decoration movement and used fabric collage in large-scale, bold paintings of the figure. Since 1987 he has used flowers as the subject of his paintings, more recently adding a cornucopia of fruits and vegetables to his repertoire. Kushner’s use of rich color harmonies and bold, fluid drawing, mark his belief in the importance of beauty in our lives. Kushner has collaborated with Master printer Bud Shark since 1982 on various monotypes and lithographs. These exuberant, sensuous prints often include collage elements, including glitter, chine collé, metal leaf and hand coloring.
Kushner recently completed a series of monotypes, many with collaged decorative papers. He worked from still-lives of flowers, fruits, pitchers and Betty Woodman ceramic vessels. These prints are a tribute to our and Robert’s long friendships and collaborations with Woodman.
Kushner’s work has been exhibited extensively in the United States, Europe, and Japan and has been included in the Whitney Biennial three times and twice at the Biennale in Venice. He was the subject of solo exhibitions at both the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Brooklyn Museum. A mid-career retrospective of his work was organized by the Philadelphia Institute of Contemporary Art.
A monograph on Kushner’s three decades of artistic work, Gardens of Earthly Delight, was published by Hudson Hills Press in 1997. Wild Gardens, a selection of Kushner’s recent paintings with an essay by Michael Duncan, was published by Pomegranate in 2006. Kushner also edited the publication Amy Goldin: Art in a Hairshirt (Hudson Hills, 2012) to much critical acclaim.
Kushner’s works are included in many prominent public collections including The Museum of Modern Art, NY; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY; The Whitney Museum of American Art, NY; The National Gallery of Art, DC; The Corcoran Gallery of Art, DC; Tate Gallery, London; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; The Contemporary Museum, Honolulu; The Denver Art Museum; Galleria degli Ufizzi, Florence; J. Paul Getty Trust, Los Angeles; Museum Ludwig, St. Petersburg; and The Philadelphia Museum of Art.
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