Last November twenty very lucky JAF Circles of Support members had the opportunity to visit Friedrich Kunath’s expansive and dramatic studio for lunch and a tour.
Born in what was then East Germany and now based in Los Angeles, Kunath is a prolific contemporary artist whose work covers a range of mediums. These include painting, drawing, sculpture and installation. Kunath showed us how he develops his work using places, snippets of text, photographs, drawings, and images collected from multiple sources. These are posted on a giant wall and become personal icons, which he uses again and again in this work. Adjacent to the wall are several tables covered with art history books opened to images that play a role in research for his work.
Kunath attended the University of Arts in Braunschweig, Germany. His work has been referred to as conceptual art, German Romanticism and Symbolism. It has been shown in numerous international solo exhibitions and is featured in prominent public and private collections including the Frans Hals Museum, Netherlands; Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; Hessel Museum of Art, Bard College, NY; Los Angeles County Museum of Art and Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego; Museum of Modern Art, New York; and the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis. He is represented in Los Angeles by Blum and Poe.
Friedrich’s tour proceeded through the many areas in the studio that are designed to create multiple unique works of art in an organized and efficient way. Each area focused on steps in the creative process such as conceptualization, preparation, underpainting, composition, overpainting, glazing and finishing. In each area, many works in progress hung on the walls. Finally, we reached the finished gallery to view several paintings ready for sale. Other rooms are used for planning future shows, hosting clients, collectors and friends.
The Jonathan Art Foundation is deeply grateful to Friedrich for providing us with this unique opportunity to learn about the organization and infrastructure necessary to be a successful contemporary artist selling in international markets.
Becoming a Circles of Support member will give you the opportunity to enjoy events such as this in the future. We plan to include visits that explore more contemporary art that exists in the flourishing Los Angeles art scene. You can learn more about the program and become a member by clicking here.
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