Carlo Keshishian Biography

In Carlo Keshishian’s work, much of what I find to be most interesting is the consistent adherence to mark making that elicits in tandem, both visceral (optical) sensations as well as philosophical percepts.

Specifically, in works such as The Intricacies of Carlo’s Brain (1999), Family (2006), or The Void II (2007), the images are made up of labor intensive, near compulsive drawing that forms an image bearing unavoidable comparison to things found in that 17th C. invention we call the natural world. This slow burn process of building images through repetition, almost centrifugally, is an act that mirrors a biological precedent but also utilizes line both to articulate and actually contain time. What is also particularly compelling is the organization of marks along an x-y axis that wholly avoid being governed by a grid. And here lies a fruitful problem; even while as objects, these works exist on a flat rectangular field, Keshishian’s project hints at continuum. An extended life beyond the four square limits of the page or canvas.

Line also articulates things beyond words just as quality and type of line can produce as much information as we are prepared to allow. So it is interesting that works like Picture Worth a Thousand Words (1999), Tears (2010), and Diary March/Feb. (2010) are made up of text. Reading these images, as opposed to reading a book, requires the viewer to literally adjust his/her distance in front of the surface. Up close, it is possible to make out the words and sentences and from a distance the images appear almost as textiles or geological strata. We are presented with an image made up of already codified marks (text) that risk further incoherence by their mashed up placement. To my mind, the fact these images are pleasurable to look at and given the artist's commitment to his time consuming process, I think there is some promise in what lies ahead.

Adam E Mendelsohn (April, 2011)

CIRCUS TERMINAL
13th July - 17th August
Group show at Amsterdam Outsider Art
Amsterdam, Holland

DRAWING NOW PARIS
11th - 14th April
Represented by the Running Horse Contemporary Arts Space
at Carrousel du Louvre
Paris, France

WOW - WOMEN OF THE WORLD
6th - 10th March
Group show at the Southbank Centre
London, UK

CIRCUS TERMINAL/OUTSIDER FOLK ART GALLERY
15th February - 9th March
Group show at Studio B
Philadelphia, USA

CIRCUS TERMINAL/SURFACE ARTS
1st - 10th December
Group show at Sangdee Gallery
Chiang Mai, Thailand

OUTSIDE IN: NATIONAL
27th October - 3rd February (2013)
Group show at Pallant House Gallery
Chichester, UK

CIRCUS TERMINAL
21st September - 2nd October
Group show at Chateau Corbin
Liverdun, France

100 CURATORS 100 DAYS
September - Present
Online exhibition with a different curator
selecting 10 works from the Saatchi Online
website, each day for 100 days
Curated by Flora Fairbairn
Global/Online

CIRCUS TERMINAL
28th June - 6th July
Group show at Impaktes Visuals Gallery
Barcelona, Spain

SONGS OF ORDINARY MADNESS
8th May - 12th June
Group show at The Running Horse Contemporary Arts Space
Beirut, Lebanon

SHOWCASE
31st January - 27th February
Group show at Pallant House Gallery
Chichester, UK

SLICK ART FAIR
17th - 23rd October
Represented by the Running Horse Contemporary Arts Space
at Palais de Tokyo
Paris, France

DESIRES, NIGHTMARES, AND DREAMS II
9th May - 11th June
Group show at The Running Horse Contemporary Arts Space
Beirut, Lebanon

COLLABORATIONS / ASSOCIATIONS
12th - 17th April
Collaborative group show at Brighton Media Centre
Brighton, UK

2010

CRUNCH ART FAIR
19th - 21st November
Represented by The Museum of Everything
Hay-on-Wye, UK

OUTSIDE IN
19th June - 12th September
Group show at Hastings Museum and Art Gallery
Hastings, UK

LEAVING SOMEWHERE NEW
1st - 30th June
Solo show at the Otter Gallery
Chichester, UK

AL BASTAKIYA ART FAIR DUBAI
15 - 21st March
Represented by The Running Horse Contemporary Arts Space

PRIVATE EXHIBITION FOR CONTEMPORABIA TOUR AND COLLECTORS
March 2010
Beirut, Lebanon

DESIRES, NIGHTMARES, AND DREAMS
8th Dec 2009 - Jan 2010
Group show at The Running Horse Contemporary Arts Space
Beirut, Lebanon

OUTSIDE IN
August 4th - November 8th
Group show at Pallant House, Chichester, UK

Outside In, Pallant House, Chichester, UK
One of Six winners, of 530 artists, 850 works of art submitted, 150 pieces shown at the exhibition

John Ayton Collection, UK
Agathe Bodin Collection, France
Marc Hare Collection, UK
Lulu Al Sabah Collection, Kuwait
Rose Knox-Peebles Collection, UK
Susanna Vorst Collection, The Netherlands

Works were also acquired and are in private collections in Africa, Australia, China, Denmark,
Germany, Lebanon, Russia, Thailand, Turkey and USA

Panel Discussion

June 3^rd 2010, University of Chichester
On panel for discussion about Outsider Art alongside;
Pallant House Head of Learning, Marc Steene,
Outsider Art colletor, Rose Knox
University of Chichester Principal Lecturer and Subject Head of Fine Art , Steve McDade

Curartorial Practice

May 9th - 16^th, 2010
at Wellington House, Brighton, UK
Group Show
Co-curated the group exhibition 'Portals' as part of the Brighton Festival with;
Julia Elmore, Raw Vision Magazine Senior Editor

Album Cover Art

April 2013
Line Let Loose: Scribbling, Doodling and Automatic Drawing
Book cover: 'The Intricacies of Carlo's Brain' image, further images and references within
By David Maclagan
Published byReaktion Books
ISBN-10: 1780230826
ISBN-13: 978-1780230825

February 2013
Eight Arms of Inspiration
'Sugar Glider vs. Octopus', p.147
By Jinxi Caddel
Published by Out of Step Books, and Memento Publishing
ISBN-10: 0985814608
ISBN-13: 978-0985814601

June 2011
Pallant House Gallery Magazine, No.24
Article by Carlo Keshishian on Nick Blinko, p.35
Published by Pallant House Gallery

May 2011
Pallant Press, issue 6
Carlo Keshishian article, p.5
Published by Pallant House Gallery

April 2011
Green Rhino Hunts #2
Desires, Nightmares, and Dreams II article
Published by The Running Horse Contemporary Arts Space

October 2010
Everything #2
Carlo Keshishian profile, p.70-71
Published by The Museum of Everything
ISBN 978-0-9565223-1-3

March 2010
Pallant Press, issue 4
Carlo Keshishian article, p.2
Published byPallant House Gallery

December 2009
L'Orient Le Jour, Saturday 12th Dec.
Desires, Nightmares, and Dreams article
Published by L'Orient Le Jour newspaper

June 2011 - Present
Delivering a series of art workshops and facilitating surgery days for the Royal Academy of Arts,
Outside In/Step Up and the Hans Feibusch Club, at:

Bethlem Gallery, Kent, UK
Pallant House Gallery, Chichester, UK
Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, UK
The Royal Academy of Arts, London, UK
Cooltan Arts, London
The Old Fire Station, Oxford, UK

April 2012
Creating an artwork with a student at Paradis d'Enfants School to be auctioned
with proceeds going back into funding the non-profit school
Jounieh, Lebanon

November 25th 2011
Speaking at UK Museums on the Web conference
Imperial War Museum
London, UK

October 2010 - March 2011
'Associations' project
A Collaborations! Project, funded by the 2012 Olympics, with sound artist/composer Anya Ustaszcwski,
visual artist Carlo Keshishian, and athlete Alexandra Adams, commissioned by Accentuate/Creative Junction
Brighton, UK