Visiting Artist Lecture Series: Jon Kessler

Image Credit: Photo by Rick Haylor

This lecture is presented as part of the Spring 2021 Visiting Artist Lecture Series. Please email art.design@mgsa.rutgers.edu for zoom link.

b. 1957, Yonkers, New York. With his chaotic kinetic installations, Jon Kessler critiques our image-obsessed, surveillance-dominated world. His machines are at once complex and lumbering, combining mechanical know-how with kitschy materials and images. Structurally complex and narratively engaging, Jon Kessler’s multimedia sculptures often deliver an emotional punch beyond their humble means. With his distinct vocabulary, Kessler taps into our all-too-real modern-day anxieties, but at the same time, spirits us away into an exciting wonderland that is ultimately uplifting.