Friedrich Kunath: Grand Optimist

FRIEDRICH KUNATH: Grand Optimist

Thursday, May 22 – Wednesday, June 4, 2014

Opening reception for the artist: Thursday, May 22, from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m.

At the Eastern Star Gallery at The Archer School for Girls

The Eastern Star Gallery, a unique art exhibition space located on the campus of The Archer School for Girls, an independent middle and high school located in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, will be the venue for “Grand Optimist,” an exhibition of original work by LA-based visual artist Friedrich Kunath. On Thursday, May 22, Archer will host a public gallery opening and reception for the artist at 6:30 p.m., followed by an artist talk and Q&A at 7:30 p.m. The exhibition is free to the public by appointment through June 4.

Friedrich Kunath was born in Chemnitz, Germany in 1974 and now resides in Los Angeles. He has exhibited widely including solo exhibitions at the Aspen Art Museum, CO; Schinkel Pavilion, Berlin; Kunsthalle Baden-Baden; Kunstverein Hannover and the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles. Group exhibitions include Human Nature at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Life of Mars: the 55th Carnegie International, Pittsburgh and The World is Yours, Palazzo Grassi, Venice. Friedrich is represented by Blum & Poe in Los Angeles, BQ in Berlin, Andrea Rosen Gallery in New York, and White Cube in London. 

Kunath works in a broad array of classical media including gouache, oil, oil pastel, lacquer, acrylic, pencil, watercolor and India ink on canvas and other surfaces. Kunath’s published Curriculum Vitae includes a quote from The Los Angeles Times Art Critic Christopher Knight who observed in his review on April 16, 2004, “Kunath does odd work, but well.”

Kunath’s “Grand Optimist” exhibit will be on public view at the Eastern Star Gallery at Archer by appointment from May 22 – June 4, 2014. The Archer School for Girls is located at 11725 Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90049. To make an appointment to visit the exhibition after the opening, please call 310-873-7043. For media relations, contact Christina McIntosh, Director of Communications at 310-873-7025, or cmcintosh@archer.org, or Alexia Haidos at 310-450-6890, or Alexia@SmartExposure.com.

ABOUT THE GALLERY

The Eastern Star Gallery at Archer is more than a unique space to view contemporary artwork: it is the center of a vital dialogue between artists, students, teachers, collectors, gallery directors, curators and other art-lovers who are drawn to the Archer campus. Students with an interest in curation, exhibition planning, and museum and gallery management receive an introduction to the business aspects of fine arts through off-campus excursions and visiting guest lectures and panels of experts.

HISTORY

By definition, the Eastern Star Gallery at Archer is a place of transformation. The space originally served as a chapel in the 1930s, offering residents a place of worship for more than six decades. During its subsequent metamorphosis, the 300-square-foot room served as a classroom and theater staging area before assuming its current life as an art gallery in 2006. Since then, this space has housed some of the most prestigious contemporary art in Southern California. In 2013, students renamed The Gallery at The Archer School for Girls as the Eastern Star Gallery at Archer, honoring the building’s historic roots as the Eastern Star Home for Women.

MISSION

To engage gallery visitors in the collaborative journey of the artist’s creative process, and to build an expansive community around the shared experience of contemporary art, within The Archer School for Girls community and beyond. The exhibitions also serve to provide students with a real-life business model for gallery operation and art business management. Proceeds from art sales support Archer’s financial aid program.

About The Archer School for Girls

Founded in 1995, The Archer School for Girls is an independent school that provides a 21st-century college preparatory program for students in grades 6 through 12 in an environment that explores and refines the ways girls learn best. Cultivating a strong sense of individuality, personal identity, independence, a sense of global engagement, and an array of leadership opportunities define each student's experience. For more information, please visit our website at www.archer.org.