(1951 – )

Gary Komarin

Contemporary
Overview

Born in New York City, the son of a Czech architect and Viennese writer, Gary Komarin is a risk taker and considered a modern master in post painterly abstraction.

Komarin’s stalwart images have an epic quality that grips the viewer with the idea that he or she is looking at a contemporary description of something timeless. For painter Gary Komarin, abstraction has never been a formal dead end. Rather, it has allowed him to challenge the limitations of the style to make painting ‘include more’ precisely because a recognizable image excludes too much.

Komarin has exhibited extensively throughout the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and Asia. He recently returned from a solo museum exhibition at the Musee Kiyoharu in Japan. The exhibition and catalog, Moon Flows like a Willow, was orchestrated by the Yoshi Foundation in Tokyo and Paris. Mr. Komarin was also invited to show his work at the privately owned Musee Mougins in the South of France where he exhibited Vessel pieces from Twenty Four Vessels at Kit Mandor.

In 1996, Komarin’s work was included in a pivotal exhibition at 41 Greene Street where his work was shown with the paintings of Jean-Michel Basquiat, Philip Guston and Bill Traylor. Gary Komarin was invited to show in a catalog exhibition with Robert Motherwell and Sir Anthony Caro in Dublin in 2009. One of the paintings in this exhibition was recently acquired by Museo d’Arte Contemporanea di Roma. And in 2016, Komarin was invited to show with Joan Mitchell and Manuel Neri in Denver. In 2016, a 60 Minutes Producer, Harry Moses, shot, produced and directed a short documentary film on Gary Komarin titled, The Painter’s Path. This follows Komarin’s invitation to participate in a film titled, The Chalkboard Chronicles, narrated by Spalding Grey. He was also included in a recent documentary on American master Clyfford Still, which was aired at the New Clyfford Still Museum in Denver, where Komarin’s work was also acquired for their permanent collection.

Articles and essays about Komarin’s work have been published in the New York Times, Art in America, and Arts Magazine among others. His work is found in many noted public collections including: Galleria Nazionale d’ Arte Moderna, Rome, Italy; Denver Art Museum, Denver; The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; The Crocker Museum, Sacramento; MAMBO, Bogota; Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego; The Yoshii Foundation, Tokyo; Musée Kiyoharu Shirakaba, Japan; Musée d’Art Classique de Mougins, Mougins; Museum of Contemporary Art Corpus Christi, Texas; Boise Art Museum, Idaho; The Montclair Art Museum, New Jersey; Boston University Museum of Fine Arts; The Zimmereli Museum; The Noyes Museum; The Morris Museum; The Newark Museum; The Microsoft Corporation, Gallery Proarta, Zurich; Blount International, Atlanta; The United Bank of Houston; The Hyatt Corporation; and American Airlines. Private collections include: Sheila Simonian, New York; James Maher, New York; John McEnroe, New York; Candace Bushnell, New York; The N. Horiuchi Collection, Tokyo; Maxwell Davidson, New York; The Gisep Biert Collection, Zurich; The Abrussezze Collection, New York; The Broadbent Collection, London; The Ron Gremillion Collection, Houston; Mason Klein, The Jewish Museum, New York; Kathryn McCarver Root, New York; Tim Jefferies, London; Robert Lamb, Chicago; Laurie and Scott Oki, Palm Desert; Toby Clarke, London; Meredith Long, Houston; Philip Gorrivan, London; Vicente Wolfe, New York; Karen Kelley, New York; Julie Ott, Portland; Adrienne Kruger Conzelman, East Hampton; Preston O’Brian, Virginia; Martin Amis, London; Stefano Nicolaus, Zurich; David Alan Greer, Los Angeles; Jeffrey Hoffeld, New York; Luke Honey, London; Marian Boesky, New York; Tim Culbert, New York; Wendy Olsoff, New York; The Gonzalo Alvar Collection, Madrid; The Harry Moses Collection, New York; Ruth O’Hara, New York; Visko Hatfield, Connecticut; Florence de Dampierre, New York.

Education

1975 – 1977
Boston University, MFA in Painting, Graduate Teaching Fellowship with Philip Guston

1975
Brooklyn Museum School, NY

1974
School of Visual Arts, NY

1973 – 1974
New York Studio School, NY

1973
Albany State University, BA in Art and English Literature

Exhibitions

Selected Solo Exhibitions:

2020
Kim Eagles-Smith Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Laura Rathe Gallery, Dallas, TX
Neon Gallery, London

2019
Azulejo Gallery, Seoul, Korea
Laura Rathe Fine Art, Houston Texas

2018
The Vicomte and Some of His Parts, Madelyn Jordon Gallery, NY
Transfiguration, Bruce Lurie Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Swiss Positions, Robischon Gallery, Denver, CO
The Mother Tongue, Kathy Dimmit Fine Arts, Houston, TX

2017
Swimming Pink, Julie Nester Gallery, Park City, UT

2016
Mr. Blonde , Robischon Gallery, Denver, CO
Gary Komarin, The First Green Rushing, Gail Severn Gallery, Ketchum, ID

2015
Mark Borghii Gallery, ‘A Wilder Blue’, Bridgehampton, NY
Gallerie Design -e- Space, Don’t Tell LIzzie Borden, Paris
Gallerie Baobob, Incident at Osboiurne Grove, Bogota, Columbia
Gallery 88, East Meets West, Seoul Korea
Madelyn Jordan Gallery, New Paintings and Works on Paper, New York
Mark Borghii, Group Exhibition/Selected Works, Palm Beach, Florida

2014
Mini Gallery, New Paintings and Works on Paper, Asissi Italy
The Morrison Gallery, Farmers Logic, Kent, Connecticut
Galerie Proarta, Komarin, Warhol, Bacon, Arp, Zurich
Cuadro Fine Arts, New Paintings and The French Wig, Dubai
Mark Borghii, Group Exhibition /Selected New Works, Bridgehampton, New York
Gail Severn Gallery, New Paintings, Sun Valley Idaho

2013
Vigo Gallery, In Which the Baron Fallow, London, England
Gail Severn Gallery, Jack’s Bridge, Ketchum Idaho
Annual Galleries, Solo Exhibition, Paris, France
Galerie Proarta, Arp, Motherwell, Komarin and Heilman, Zurich, Switzerland
Elins Eagles Smith Gallery, Tapping Reeve, San Francisco, California
Gremillion and Co. Fine Arts, The Road so Bare and White, Houston, Texas
Cuadro Gallery, The Early Influences, Dubai
Lotte Gallery, Solo Exhibition, Seoul, Korea

2012
Hillsboro Gallery of FineArt, Dublin, Ireland States of Feeling: Gary Komarin,
Robert Motherwell and Larry Poons
Robischon Gallery, Denver, Colorado
Bonbright Gallery, Down and Dirty Whites, Los Angeles, California

2011
Galerie Proarta, Zurich, Switzerland
Gail Severn Gallery, Ketchum Idaho
Gremillion and Co. Fine Arts, Houston, Texas

2010
Robischon Gallery, Denver, Colorado
Cuadro Gallery, Dubai, United Arab Emerates
The Neilson Gallery, Cadiz, Spain

2009
Spanierman Modern, New York, New York
Galerie Proarta, Zurich, Switzerland
Broadbent Gallery, London, England

2008
Gail Severn Gallery, Blue Scrubbed White, Ketchum, Idaho
Kiyoharu Museum, Kiyoharu, Japan
The FineArt Society, London, England
Gremillion & Company Fine Arts, Houston, Texas

2007
Gail Severn Gallery, Ketchum, Idaho
Spanierman Modern, New York, New York
The Goss Gallery, Dallas, Texas
Elins Eagles Smith Gallery, San Francisco, California
Costello-Childs Gallery, Phoenix, Arizona

2006
Karolyn Sherwood Gallery, Incident at Echo Lake, Des Moines,lowa
Galerie Proarta, Zurich, Switzerland
SG Modern and Contemporary Fine Arts, New York, New York
The Fine Art Society, The Bourdon Gauge, London, England
Gremillion & Company Fine Arts, Houston, Texas

2005
Elins Eagles-Smith Gallery, San Francisco, California
J. Johnson Gallery, Jacksonville Beach, Florida
Donna Tribby Fine Arts, Palm Beach, Florida

2004
Karolyn Sherwood Gallery, Des Moines, lowa
Bentley Gallery, Scottsdale, Arizona
Gerald Peters Gallery, Dallas, Texas
Mira Godard Gallery, Toronto, Canada
Hamiltons Gallery, London, England
Galerie Proarta, Zurich, Switzerland
Broadbent Gallery, London, England
Gremillion & Company Fine Arts, Houston, Texas

2003
McGrath Gallery, New York, New York
Kraft Leiberman Gallery, Chicago, Illinois
Robischon Gallery, Denver, Colorado
Kunstart Zurich, Galerie ProArta, Zurich, Switzerland
Galerie Proarta, Zurich, Switzerland

2002
Gremillion & Company Fine Arts Houston, Texas
Peyton/Wright Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico
Galerie ProArta, Zurich, Switzerland
Lizan Tops Gallery, East Hampton, NewYork
Steven Vail Gallery, Des Moines, lowa
Ballard Featherston Gallery, Seattle, Washington

2001
The Lowe Gallery, Atlanta, Georgia
Museum of Fine Art, New Orleans, Louisiana
Vanier Gallery, Scottsdale, Arizona
Gremillion & Company Fine Arts, Houston, Texas

2000
Peyton/Wright, New York, New York
Fay Gold Gallery, Atlanta Georgia
Gremillion & Company Fine Arts, Houston, Texas

1999
Aurobora Press, San Francisco, California

1998
MOFA, New Orleans, Louisiana
CS Schulte Galleries, Millburn, New Jersey

1997
Greg Kucera Gallery, Seattle, Washington

1996
Mark Miller, East Hampton, New York
Drew University, Madison, New Jersey

1995
Sandier Hudson Gallery, Atlanta, Georgia
Arthur Roger Gallery, New Orleans, Louisiana

1994
Herbert Palmer Gallery, Los Angeles, California

1992
Klarfeld Perry Gallery, New York, New York

1991
Grace Hokin Gallery, Palm Beach, Florida

1990
Scott Hanson Gallery, Los Angeles, California

1989
Brian Reddy, Little Silver, New Jersey
Bruce Helander Gallery, Palm Beach, Florida
Sandier Hudson Gallery, Atlanta, Georgia
Scott Hanson Gallery, New York, New York

1988
Princeton University Gallery, Princeton, New Jersey

1987
Maxwell Davidson Gallery, New York, New York
Sandier/Hudson Gallery, Atlanta, Georgia
Meredith Long & Company, Houston, Texas
Bruce Helander Gallery, Palm Beach, Florida

1985
Maxwell Davidson Gallery, New York, New York
Sandier/Hudson Gallery, Atlanta, Georgia
Bruce Helander Gallery, Palm Beach, Florida
Meredith & Long Gallery, Houston, Texas

1984
Joy Horwich Gallery, Chicago,Illinois
Herbert Palmer Gallery, Los Angeles, California

1983
Meadows Museum of the Arts, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas
Maxwell Davidson Gallery, New York, New York
Meredith & Long Gallery, Houston, Texas

1982
University of Texas/Irving, Irving, Texas
Meredith Long and Company, Houston, Texas

1981
Museum of Art, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon
Maxwell Davidson Gallery, New York, New York
Hobart and William Smith Colleges Art Gallery, New York, New York
William Campbell Gallery, Fort Worth, Texas

1979
Maxwell Davidson Gallery, New York, New York

Selected Group Exhibitions

2016
In With the Pop, Madelyn Jordon Fine Art, Scarsdale, NY

2015
Color IV , Gail Severn Gallery, Ketchum, ID
Group Exhibition/Selected Works , Mark Borghii, Palm Beach, Florida
Seattle Art Fair, Seattle, WA, Gail Severn Gallery
San Francisco Art Market, SF, CA, Gail Severn Gallery, ID
Color &Form as Metaphor , Gail Severn Gallery, Ketchum, ID

2014
Color III, Gail Severn Gallery, Ketchum, ID
Gary Komarin Part II , Gail Severn Gallery, Ketchum, ID
San Francisco Art Market, SF, CA, Gail Severn Gallery, ID
Gary Komarin, Gail Severn Gallery, Ketchum, ID

2013
Preview 2014, Gail Severn Gallery, Ketchum, ID
Color II , Gail Severn Gallery, Ketchum, ID
San Francisco Art Market, SF, CA, Gail Severn Gallery, ID

2012
Pavilion Des Arts Et Du Design with Galerie Jean-Francois Cazeau, Paris, France
Palm Springs Fine Art Fair with Elins Eagles-Smith Gallery, Palm Springs, California
India Art Fair, New Delhi with Neilson Gallery, Cadiz, Spain

2011
Contemporary and Modern Masters, Jean Francois Cazeau, Paris, France

2010
Contemporary Painting, A Survey, Spanierman Modern, New York, New York

2009
Hillsboro Fine Arts, Dublin, Ireland

2007
Katonah Museum, Katonah, New York

2006
The Hungry Eye, Chelsea Art Museum, New York, New York
Works on Paper, Spanierman Modern, New York, New York
Long Island Abstraction, Spanierman Modern, New York, New York
Discardingly Yours, Dean Jensen Gallery, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

2005
The Fine Art Society, London, England
Kunstart Amsterdam with Nico DeLaive
Gallery Goss Gallery Inaugural Show, Dallas, Texas
London Art Fair with Broadbent Gallery, London, England
San Francisco Art Fair with Elins Eagles-Smith Gallery, San Francisco, California
Transversal, curated group show, Robischon Gallery, Denver, Colorado

2004
Ronald Feldman Gallery, Philips de Pury & Co.,New York, New York
Slow Art, Broadbent Gallery, London, England
32 x 32, Gerald Peters Gallery, Dallas, Texas
London Art Fair Broadbent Gallery, London, England
Works on Paper with Burton Marinkovich, The Armory, New York, New York
Bologna Art Fair with Broadbent Gallery, London, Engand

2003
The Americans, Warhol, Francis, Lichtenstein, Christo, Komarin at Galerie Proarta,
Zurich, Switzerland
Basel Art Fair with Hamiltons Gallery, London, England
Milan Art Fair with Galerie Arte, Milan,Italy
Art of this Century with Mira Godard Gallery, The Armory, New York, New York
Broadbent Gallery, London, England
Richmond House Project with Hamiltons Gallery, London, England
New Abstraction, Lizan Tops Gallery, East Hampton, New York
Kratt / Lieberman Gallery Inaugural Exhibition, Chicago, Ilinois
Luke Honey, London, England

2002
13th Anniversary Show, The Lowe Gallery, Atlanta, Georgia
Kunstart Fair with Galerie ProArta, Zurich, Switzerland
Robischon Gallery, Denver, Colorado
Galerie ProArta, Zurich, Switzerland
100 NJ Artists Make Prints, New Jersey State Museum, Trenton, New Jersey
The Morris Museum, Morristown, New Jersey
The Noyes Museum of Art, Oceanville, New Jersey
The Maker’s Mark, The University of New Orleans, New Orleans, Louisiana
Works on Paper with Burton Marinkovich Fine Art, The Armory, New York, New York

2001
Juried Exhibition, National Academy of Design Museum, New York, New York
Almost Giddy, Rhodes College, Memphis, Tennessee
New Directions, Masur Museum of Art, New Orleans, Louisiana
Report & Find, Robischon Gallery, Denver, Colorado
Paintings on Paper, Tim Hill Gallery, Birmingham, Mississippi
New York/New Works on Paper, Lizan Tops Gallery, East Hampton, New York
Chicago Art Fair with Tandem Press, Chicago, Illinois
San Francisco Art Fair with Tandem Press
Works on Paper with Burton Marinkovich Fine Art, The Armory, New York, New York

2000
The Print Fair at the Armory with Tandem Press, New York, New York
Homage to the Twentieth Century, New Orleans Center for Contemporary Arts,
New Orleans, Louisiana
Chicago Art Fair with Thomas McCormick, Chicago, Illinois
St. Louis Print Fair with Burton Marinkovich Fine Art, Washington, DC
The Baltimore Print Fair with Gary Godwin Gallery
Works on Paper with Burton Marinkovich Fine Art, The Armory, New York, New York

Selected Curatorial Exhibitions
“Guston, Basquiat, Komarin, Traylor” McEnroe Gallery, NY, 1996
“Twombly, Motherwell, Poons, Komarin” Ireland, 2015

Collections

SELECTED MUSEUM COLLECTIONS

Museums
Galeria Nazionale D’Arte Moderna, Rome, Italy
Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO
Musee D’Art Classique, Mougins, France
Art Museum of South Texas, Corpus Christi, TX
Boston University Art Museum, Boston, MA
Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, San Diego, CA
Boise Art Museum, Boise, ID
Arkansas Museum of Contemporary Art, Little Rock, AK
Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Houston, TX
Montclair Art Museum, Montclair, NJ
The Morris Museum, Morristown, NJ
Newark Museum, Newark, NJ
Zimmerli Art Museum, New Hyde Park, NY
Musee Kiyoharu, Shirabata, Japan
MAMBO, Bogota
University Art Museum at Albany, New York

Corporate and Private Collections
Arkansas Art Center, Little Rock, AK
AT&T Corporation, New York, NY
Alan Berger, NY
Barry Blitt, CT
Bashaar Al Shroogi, Dubai
Blount Corporation, Atlanta, GA
United Airlines, Houston, TX
Candace Bushnell, NY
Christian Levett, Mougins, France
Craig Van der Brule Design, NY
David Alan Greer, Los Angeles, CA
Dick Cavett, NY
Doug and Judy Hamilton, NY
Ellen McCourt, NY, NY
Faegre & Benson, Des Moines, IA
Foundation Yoshii, Tokyo Japan
Garner Tullis, New York, NY and Tuscany, Italy
Gisep Biert, President of Morgan Stanley, Zurich, Switzerland
Harry Moses, CBS “60 Minutes”, NY
Herbert Palmer, Los Angeles, CA
Houston Memorial Hospital & Medical Center, Houston, TX
Hyatt Corporation, Houston, TX
James Maher, New York, NY
Jeffrey Hoffeld & Co., New York, NY
Jennifer Luce, La Jolla, CA
Jersey City Museum, Jersey City, NJ
John McEnroe, New York, NY
John Rubenstein & Associates, Bernardsville, NJ
Josh Silverman, CEO of Etsy, NY
Julie Rhodes Design, Houston, TX
Katherine Newman Design, Toronto, Canada
Kimball Museum, Chairperson, Private Collection, Fort Worth, TX
Lars Malmberg / Galerie Proarta, Zug, Switzerland
Luke Honey, de Pury and Luxembourg, London, England
Maison Klein, Curator, Jewish Museum, New York, NY
Marian Boesky, New York, NY
Margaret Naeve, Houston TX
Martin Amis, London, England
Maxwell Davidson, New York, NY
McDonald’s Corporation, Los Angeles, CA
Michael Hoban, London, England
Michael Liener, Aurobora Press, San Francisco CA
Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, WA
Nancy Nordstrom
New Jersey State Council on the Arts, Trenton, NJ
Newark Public Library, Newark, NJ
Nordstrom Corporation, Seattle, WA
Norioshi Horiuchi Collection, Tokyo, Japan
Noyes Museum, Oceanville, NJ
Prudential Insurance Company of America, Boston, MA
Robert Lamm, Los Angeles, CA
Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ
Ruth O’Hara, New York, NY
Segura Press, Tempe Arizona
Scott Oki, Seattle WA
Sheila Simonian, New York, NY
Steven’s Corporation, Los Angeles, CA
Susan Dicker / Dicker Fine Arts, Malibu, CA
Tanaka Shiroga, Tokyo, Japan
Tandem Press, University of Wisconsin
Tim Jefferies, London, England
Toby Clarke, Director of The Fine Art Society, London, England
Touche/Ross, Inc., Atlanta, GA
Transco, Inc., New York, NY
Twin Palms Press, Austin TX
United Bank of Houston, Houston, TX
Wendy Olsoff, P.P.O.W., New York, NY
Zions Bank, Idaho & Utah
Marc Capra, Miami
Courtney Lynch, New York
John Klein, New York

Awards
  • The Joan Mitchell Prize in Painting, New York
  • Edward Albee Foundation Fellowship In Painting, New York
  • Elizabeth Foundation Prize in Painting, New York
  • Benjamin Altman Prize in Painting, National Academy of Design Museum, New York
  • The New York Foundation of the Arts Grant in Painting
  • Graduate Teaching Fellowship in Painting, Boston University Graduate School of Fine Arts
Articles & Reviews
  • “Still” Clifford Still Documentary, Interview with Gary Komarin, Amie Knox and Chad Herschberger, 2011
  • Dining Rooms by the AD 100, Architectural Digest, February 2015
  • Cover Story: The Art Issue, CT Cottages & Gardens, November 2014
  • Art in America, May 2008
  • King, Sarah S., Art in America, July 2003
  • Brandenberg, Andreas, Zuger Presse, ‘Complex Paintings from Overseas’, Galerie ProArta, 2002
  • Taylor, Art, ‘Komarin at Lizan Tops’, East Hampton Arts, New York, 2002
  • Schwabsky, Barry, ‘Paintings do the Talking Without Too Many Specifics’,
  • The New York Times, 2000
  • Grayson, Clive, ‘Gary Komarin at Susan Conway’, The Washington Post, 1995
  • Waddington, Chris, ‘Subjects Simple but Art Deceptively Sophisticated’,
  • The New Orleans Lagniappe, 1996
  • Langdon, Davis, ‘French Wig in East Hampton,’ Hamptons Gazette 1998
  • Foxworth, Janet, ‘Gary Komarin’s The Naming of John Dreamer’, The Atlanta Journal, 1997
  • Reed, Vincent, ‘Komarin Explores the Painterly’ at Klarfeld Perry, Arts Magazine 1993.
  • Lloyd, Amy, ‘Gary Komarin Shows New Expressive Work at Sandler/Hudson,
  • Art in America, 1994
  • Loughery, John, ‘Komarin, The Master of the Elemental Image’ at Maxwell Davidson,
  • Arts Magazine, 1991
  • Watson, Edward, ‘Surrealist Loads Canvas’, The New Jersey Star Ledger 1989.
  • Russell, John, ‘The Dog Days of August’, The New York Times 1987.
  • Zimmer, William, ‘Something-But What?, The New York Times, 1985.
  • Zimmer, William, ‘A Rich Array…From Newburgh to Newark’. The New York Times, 1985.
  • Everingham, Carol, ‘A Comical View of the American Dream’, The Houston Post,1982.
  • Perry, Paloma, ‘Stories in Paint’, The Atlanta Journal, 1981.
  • Kutner, Janet, ‘Komarin Shows Strong Work’, The Dallas Morning News, 1981.
  • Baker, Ralph, ‘Komarin Paintings and Works on Paper’, The Museum of Art at
  • The University of Oregon, Eugene, catalog essay 1980.
  • Parks, Addison, ‘Gary Komarin New Work at Maxwell Davidson’, Arts Magazine
  • 1979.
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