Karen Gunderson, Churning sea, 2006. Oil on linen, 60 x 60 inches.
Karen Gunderson, Churning Sea-Where Whales Meet, 2008. Oil on linen, 72 x 72 inches.
Karen Gunderson, Abundance, 2023. Oil on linen, 36 x 96 inches.
Karen Gunderson, Finding Tomorrow, 2024. Oil on linen, 24 x 24 inches.
Karen Gundersonm, Blue Moon, 2024. Oil on linen, 60 x 60 inches.
Karen Gunderson, Cheshire Moon, 2009. Oil on linen, 30 x 30 inches.
Karen Gunderson, Full Moon Rising, 2014. Oil on linen, 40 x 40 inches.
Karen Gunderson, Truro Moon, 2014. Oil on linen, 36 x 36 inches.
Karen Gunderson, Ana Purna Sanctuary To Modi Peak, 2005. Oil on linen, 52 1/2 x 61 1/2 inches.
Karen Gunderson, Everest From Goyko Rei, 2006. Oil on linen, 61 1/2 x 52 1/4 inches.
Karen Gunderson, Tibet Crown of Clouds, 2013. Oil on linen, 16 1/4 x 48 inches.
Karen Gunderson, Paiju Peak, 2004. Oil on linen, 52 1/4 x 61 1/2 inches.
Known for her black paintings that explore the interplay of form and light with a heightened attention to texture and the effects of time, Karen Gunderson has depicted a wide range of subjects, from waterscapes, moons, mountains and clouds to politicians, royalty and even the cosmos itself. Her sustained commitment to representation while exclusively using black pigments has resulted in a singular body of work uniquely capable of expressing the essence of forms.
Over nearly forty years, Gunderson has pioneered an approach to painting with black pigments that departs from its historically abstract deployment by remaining firmly rooted in imagery taken from the world around her. She has developed and refined a labor-intensive technique built around rigorous brushwork and paint layering that employs a range of black shades to create a unique, three-dimensional effect. The multiple textures of the paint appear to shimmer and move, alternating with shadows and highlights that illuminate her subjects depending on how the viewer moves in front of each canvas. Just as they respond to the atmospheric and lighting conditions of where they are exhibited, Gunderson's paintings possess a cinematic quality as well, unfolding over time rather than being apprehended in an instant.
Gunderson’s dynamic compositions are informed by her use of photography as a source of inspiration and possibility. With reference to either an original or found photograph, she carefully develops her compositions by working from every angle to best capture the effects of light reflecting off of the canvas. This steadfast emphasis on representational imagery in her paintings is also an extension of her belief in the redemptive power of humanity’s encounter with and contemplation of the natural world.
After 40 years of living in New York City, Karen Gunderson (b.1943 in Racine WI) now lives and works in the village of Coxsackie, NY, where her studio overlooks the Hudson River. She received her BS in Art Education from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater in 1966 followed by an MA in Painting and then an MFA in Intermedia, both from the University of Iowa in 1968, where she studied with Hans Brader. Gunderson was the first person in the nation to receive a degree in Intermedia.
Gunderson has exhibited extensively throughout her 60 year career. Notable solo exhibitions include Karen Gunderson: Reflective, Racine Art Museum, WI (2011); Karen Gunderson: Bridge Into the Night, National Museum of Bahrain (2010); Karen Gunderson: La Pinturas Negras (The Black Paintings), Circulo de Belles Artes, Madrid, Spain (2004) and Moral Courage During World War II: Denmark and Bulgaria, Government of the Ministry, ‘The Military Club,’ Sophia, Bulgaria; traveled to the Congregation Beth Shalom Rodfe Zedek, Chester, CT; Cornell College Gallery, Mt. Vernon, IO; Brattleborough Museum Art Center, Brattleborough, VT; Skirball Museum, Cincinnati, OH; Holocaust Museum, Houston, TX; College of Staten Island, Staten Island, NY and the Hebrew Union College, New York, NY. Notable group exhibitions include A Contemporary Intervention in the 19th Century Landscape, Collection of The Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth, TX (2025); Contested Landscapes, curated by Rachel Mohl, the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, TX (2024); Painting After Post Modernism, curated by Barbra Rose, Vanderborght Building, Brussels, Belgium (2016); Nebulous: Works From RAM’s Collection, Racine Art Museum, WI (2015) and This is Water, the Vermont Institute of Contemporary Arts, Chester, VT (2013), among others.
Gunderson was the recipient of the Anonymous Was A Woman Award in 2020. Her work is included in numerous permanent collections, including the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, TX; the Milwaukee Art Museum, WI; The Lewitt Collection, Chester, CT; the Allen Memorial Museum of Art at Oberlin College, OH; Racine Art Museum, WI; the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art, Cedar Rapids, IA.
