Karl P. Koenig

Artist Statement

The breadth of this title is no accident.   When I looked retrospectively at my work in preparation for this show I realized that many of my images concern nourishment and survival on the one hand or privation and decay on the other.   These are, after all, the essentials of life when the glitter and nonessentials are stripped away.

For many years I have chosen two highly versatile print making methods,  Polymer Gravure and Gumoil, to interpret original raw photographic images.  As one can see, the images stretch from early grain storage elevators of the rural prairies, to idiosyncratic views of market fish and the innards of edible creatures.   Gumoil printing is infinitely variable in terms of color and texture while gravure printing tends to be more precise and exacting but it is equally versatile as an interpretive medium.  Note that some gravures are printed with more than one etching plate while others are selectively hand-colored.

I devote considerable thought and experimentation in choosing the best method, the optimal combinations of textures and colors, and appropriate size for each image.

Biography

Date and Place of Birth: 1938, Hamilton, New York

Education:

Bachelor of Science. Trinity College. Hartford, Connecticut. 1960 (Philosophy and Psychology)

Master of Science. University of Washington, Seattle, WA 1962 (Psychology)

Doctor of Philosophy. University of Washington, Seattle, WA, 1963 (Psychology)

Additional Art Education:                                 

Course work in the 1990's in alternative process photography, serigraphy, lithography, and various theory serminars at the University of New Mexico.

Awards and grants:

Willard Van Dyke Photography Award 1994

Exhibitions:

2009: Bianales, Victoria (Melbourne) and Sydney                                           New Grounds Print Workshop, One man shows, 2007 and 2005.       Albuquerque Museum 2009-2010.

“Made in New Mexico”, Wolverhampton College, Wolverhampton, U.K.

“Made in New Mexico”, Proyecto Ace, Buenos Aires, Argentina

 New Mexico Perspectives, Albuquerque, New Grounds, 2007

Daylesford Invitational,   Melbourne 2007

Art Santa Fe, 2007

“Studies in Time”  Melbourne, Australia.   Fine Art Living Gallery.  2006

Art Santa Fe  2005

New Grounds Gallery. Albuquerque, NM.   “The Skull Beneath the Skin”  Gumoils and Gravures.  2005

Gold Street Gallery, Melbourne, Australia  “Gumoil Images” 2005

Richard Stockton College Gallery,  New Jersey.  2005 “There Is No Why Nere.”

El Paso Holocaust Museum and Study Center.  2004 “There Is No Why  Here.”

FotoFest Houston.  “There Is No Why Here.” Thirty Seven images of Concentration Camp Architecture.  Holocaust Museum Houston March 7, 2004 to July 30 2004.  (This is the culmination of a ten year project in which I visited and revisited  photographically the residual architecture of ten camps,  ultimately taking me repeatedly to six European

countries.)

Gold Street Gallery Melbourne, Australia.  Fall/Winter 2004

"Hier ist kein warum" One man show. Museum of the Holocaust. Photofest 2004 entry for this museum, Houston.

"Magnificent Trees" New Grounds Gallery. August, 2003. (Photoetchings.)

"Images of Havana" San Diego Cuban Center, May, 2003

"The Print Exposed" The Gold Street Studio, Melbourne, Australia. Summer 2003

Santa Fe Invitational Annual Art Exposition 2003

“Magnificent Trees” Photogravures at New Grounds Gallery.  One man show. 2003

Prints of the World  Paris, France, Invitational, 2003

Second Street Show  Charles Burke Invitational.  Albuquerque, 2000

Invitational Show  Richard Levy Gallery, Albuquerque 2000.

“Six Images of Concentration Camps”   The Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust.  September 8-December 31,1999 and to tour California in 2001.

Two by Two  Impost Gallery,  Invitational.  Albuquerque. 1999.

Framed  Richard Levy Gallery,  Invitational.  Albuquerque.  1998.

Neopictorialism One Man Show, The Studio Gallery,  San Diego.   October 1998.

Art 98 Basel Switzerland.  LJE Exhibit at Messe Basel, Switzerland.  1998.

Art Expo New York.  LJE Exhibit at the Javits Center, NYC.  1998.

"Sticks and Stones" One Man Show. Studio Gallery. San Diego. February 26-March 31. 1998.

Art Expo New York. LJE Exhibit at the Javits Center, NYC. 1998.

Art 98 Crawford Arts Centre. St. Andrews University, Scotland. Show and Catalogue publication. Spring, 1980.

New Mexico Arts and Crafts Fair (Juried). 1991 and 1992.

"Iglesias Antiguas" Scheinbaum and Russek Gallery show, Santa Fe ,1992.

"The Bisti" Gallery at the Rep, Santa Fe. 1993.

Work exhibited at Platinum Plus Gallery, Santa Fe. 1992-1996.

Geoffrey Diner's Gallery Show. Washington, DC. 1993.

"Magnifico" Albuquerque (Juried Invitational). 1994.

CAFE. Group Invitational Show. Albuquerque. 1994 and 1995.

Santa Fe Contemporary Art Gallery. Santa Fe. Solo Exhibitions 1994 and 1996.

Toledo Friends of Photography. Exhibition and selection for the show's poster. 1995.

"The Third International Exhibition of Photo Technology and Art" Invitational show, Victoria, Australia. 1996.

"Gumoil Images of the Southwest" Center for Southwest Research, University of New Mexico Zimmerman Library Gallery. 1996.

"Exhibition of New Mexico Photographers" the Soros Centers in Kiev and Kharkov, Ukraine. 1996.

Solo Exhibition of Non-Silver Prints. O'Neill's, Albuquerque. 1996.

Museum of New Mexico. "Willard Van Dyke Award Winners" (Retrospective Exhibition 1985-1997). 1997.

Juried Exhibition, Barrett House, Poughkeepsie, NY. 1997.

69th Annual Exhibition of Photography. Harrisburg, Pa. 1997.

"Magnifico" Juried Exhibition. Albuquerque, 1997.

"Luminos '97". Juried Exhibition. Lubbock. 1997.

"New Orleans National Group Exhibition" Juried Exhibition, 1997.

"Humor in Photography" Touring Group Show, originating in Santa Fe. 1997.

"Light Images: A Selection of New Mexico Photographers" Santa Fe. 1997.

"'97 National Juried Competition" The Phoenix gallery, NY. 1997

"The Fourth International Exhibition of Photo Technology and Art" London. June-October, 1997.

"Humor In Photography" Invited work. New Media Arts, Santa Fe, 1997.

Light Images IV. In conjunction with Poto Santa Fe. 1997

Prints of Albuquerque. Harwood Art Center.Albuquerque, 1997.

"Small Works" Richard Levy Gallery, Invitational. Albuquerque, 1997

"The New Pictorialism" The Photographic Society's Gallery. New London, CT. February-march, 1998.

"Sticks Basel Switzerland. LJE Exhibit at Messe Basel, Switzerland. 1998.

"Neopictorialism" One Man Show Studio Gallery, San Diego. October 1998.

Major collections: 

Wolverhampton College, Wolverhampton, U.K.

Proyecto Ace, Buenos Aires, Argentina

College of Santa Fe

University of New Mexico Art Museum

Museum of New Mexico

Governor's Capitol Art Collection

Instituto de Artes Graficas de Oaxcaca (Foto Centro Manuel Bravo)

Princeton University Art Museum

Gallery Representation:

New Grounds Gallery, Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gold Street Gallery, Melbourne, Australia

Awards:

New Mexico Council on Photography. The Willard Van Dyke Award, 1994.

Publications in related areas:

Koenig, Karl P. Gum/Oil Printing: Monochromatic and Polychromatic Techniques. Darkroom and Creative Camera Techniques. September/October, 1991.

Koenig, Karl P. Van Dyke Printing: Monochromatic and Polychromatic Techniques. Darkroom and Creative Camera Techniques, July/August, 1992.
Work reproduced in Robert Hirsch's Exploring Color Photography, 2nd and 3rd Editions. WC Brown, Iowa, 1992 and 1996.
Koenig, Karl P. Gumoil Photographic Printing. Focal Press. Boston, 1994. 136 Pages.
Koenig, Karl P. Alternative Process Photography-Part I. Shooter's, Fall, 1994.
Koenig, Karl P. Alternative Process Photography-Part II. Shooter's, Jan/Feb, 1995.
Koenig, Karl P. Alternative Process Photography-Part III. Shooter's, March/April, 1995.
Magazine cover featuring a Gumoil Rendering of Ranchos de Taos Church, American Psychologist. July 1995.
Koenig, Karl P. Gumoil: A Truly Modern Alternative process. Camera and Darkroom, March, 1995.
Koenig, Karl P. The Digi-Gumoil Print: Gumoil Printing Meets Adobe Photoshop. The Alt Photo Review. Vol 2, No. 4, Winter, 1996 (UK).
Koenig, Karl P. Gumoil Photography: And Now, the Digi-Gumoil Print. PhotoWork: Art and Technique. Premiere Issue, 1997.
Koenig, Karl P. Alternative Photographic Processes. The Collectors' Guide. 1997.
Koenig, Karl P. An Apocrustic View of APIS. The Alt Photo Review. Vol. 3, No. 3-4.
Koenig, Karl P. Gumoil Printing: A Modern alternative. Camera Arts, pp 6-14. Aug/Sept 1998,
Koenig, Karl P. Gumoil Photographic Printing, Revised Edition. Focal Press, Boston. 144 pages.

Koenig, Karl P. Alternative Photography de Santa Fe. View Camera, November/December. 1999.
Koenig, Karl P. Concentration Camp Image to appear in text book on Digital Photography by Joesph Ciaglia to be published in 2001.
About Gumoil:
Fredrick, Peter Charles. The Gumoil Process. The Alt Photo Review. Vol. 3, Nos. 3-4 1997
Numerous reviews available upon request.
Antiques/Photography Articles:
Koenig, Karl P. and Frances. Match Safes: Matched Sets or Almost. International Match Safe Association. Vol. 1, No. 2 April, 1999. (17 photographs)
Koenig, Karl P. Showcase: Match Safes. Antique Trader's Collector. September, 1999.(15 photographs)
Koenig, Karl P. History of a Modern Match Safe, November 1999. International Match Safe Association. January, 2000. Vol. 2, No. 1.
(4 photographs)
Koenig, Karl P. and Nigel Ross. The Match Safes of Karl Fabergé. Silver Magazine. Vol. 22, No. 1. 2000. (9 photographs)
Koenig, Karl P. and Nigel Ross. The Match Safes of Karl Fabergé. International Match Safe Association. April, 2000. Vol. 2, No. 2.
(9 photographs)

Cover Photograph. Silver Magazine. March/April 2000.

Koenig, Karl P. Pocket Match Safes. Part One: Figural Match Safes. Silver Magazine. March/April 2000. (27 photographs)
Koenig, Karl P. Matched Safes--Matched Sets. Carter's Antiques. Summer 1999/2000. (10 photographs)
Koenig, Karl P. Pocket Match Safes. Part Two: Enameled Pieces. Silver Magazine. Vol. 22, No. 4, 2000. (45 photographs)

Teaching:

Several seminars during the 1990's for the College of Fine Art, UNM.

Workshops: Bath, APIS. England, the Darkroom Santa Fe, Coupeville Arts Center Whidbey Island Washington, Photographers Formulary in Montana, the College of Richmond, Virgina, Art Center of Salem, North Carolina, etc.