Ken Schiano

Born in Brooklyn, NY / Works in Maryland

BIO

Ken lives and works on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. Born in Brooklyn 1947, Ken graduated from The Cooper Union (NYC) with a degree in Architecture. As an Assistant Professor, he previously taught studio art and architectural design at the University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY and at IIT, Chicago, IL. Before turning to painting his architectural practice spanned 2+ decades and in various locales.

Ken is a 2021 recipient of the Maryland State Arts Council Individual Artist Award and had recently been selected as a semi-finalist for the Sondheim Art Prize, a finalist for the Adolph and Esther Gottlieb Foundation Individual Support Grant, placed 3rd in the Bethesda Painting Prize and was the recipient of the 19th Annual Peggy and T. Denton Miller Award for excellence in Contemporary Art at the Academy Art Museum, Easton, MD. He has had a recent solo show at MassoniArt, Chestertown, MD, and at the Academy Art Museum, Easton, MD. He continues to be featured extensively in group shows at the James Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA, and the Long View Gallery, Washington, DC. He has had his work exhibited in NY, (MOMA), Atlanta (Momus Gallery), Dallas (Mary Tomas Gallery), Portland (Danforth Gallery), Belfast (Frick Gallery), Bangor (Clark House Gallery, Arte Fino), Rockland (Carver Hill), and Blue Hill (Leighton Gallery). His work resides in both corporate and private collections including the Inova Schar Cancer Institute, Fairfax, VA, the University of Maine at Machias, ME, The Cooper Union, NY, NY, the American Board of Surgery, Philadelphia, PA, Connor, Strong and Buckelew, Philadelphia, PA, Wakefield Capital, Chevy Chase, MD, and SM Lighting Design, NY, NY.

If I had to define an overarching motive central to my practice, it would be this: Where are the bounds between Discipline and Surrender? And yes, this has a spiritual as well as material dimension. My work is uncompromisingly abstract, and despite external sources, my subject matter is derived solely from the act of painting. Beginning with powdered pigment, I mix my own colors and make the media and tools I use from scratch --watercolor, pastel, a cold wax medium, etc., matching them to the shape and strength of my hand. While it is not a conscious intent to extend the creative practice to include the actual manufacture of the material used, it’s logical that I would be interested in their genesis and my paintings integrate such knowledge in the pursuit of unmediated visual pleasure. I tend to work in series (Little Demons, Nuovi Paesaggi, Birds of Paradise , etc), and keep any imposed constraints to a Haiku simplicity, hopefully allowing the interaction between material and support maximal expression.