Brad Kahlhamer facts for kids
Brad Kahlhamer (born in 1956) is a cool artist who creates many different kinds of art! He makes sculptures, paintings, performances, and even music. He lives and works in New York City, in his studio in Brooklyn.
His amazing artwork is displayed in famous places like the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Many other museums also collect his art, showing how important his work is.
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Brad Kahlhamer's Journey as an Artist
Kahlhamer was born in Tucson, Arizona, USA. When he was a baby, German-American parents adopted him, and he grew up in Wisconsin. He doesn't know his birth family because his adoption records were sealed. This means he can't officially join any Native American tribes.
Before becoming a full-time artist, Brad was a musician for ten years. He traveled around the Midwest playing music. In 1982, he earned a degree in art from the University of Wisconsin. Then, he moved to New York City. The busy and exciting city, especially areas like the Lower East Side, gave him many ideas for his art.
He spent ten years working as a graphic artist and art director for Topps Chewing Gum Company. Finally, in 1993, he became a full-time artist.
What Inspires His Art
Brad Kahlhamer's art is inspired by his whole life. He explores different cultures and street life. He often talks about the "third place." This is where two different parts of his personal history meet. It's a key idea in all his art.
He explains that his characters come from real events and people. He mixes history, myths, and fantasy in his work. He is influenced by Abstract Expressionism, which is a style of painting. He also gets ideas from graphic artists like Gary Panter and Art Spiegelman. He studies old Plains Indians' ledger drawings. These are drawings made by Native Americans on old ledger books. He also connects to his own Native American background.
A writer named Holland Cotter said his work mixes modern Native American culture with punk rock city styles. He uses fine pen lines, graffiti-like words, and spray-painted marks. Brad often creates many pieces in a series. These series have become very well-known works.
Brad Kahlhamer's Paintings and Drawings
In 2000, an art show called Brad Kahlhamer: Almost American took place. Laura Hoptman, a writer, said that Kahlhamer's drawings are like the old ledger drawings. They show how different cultures can communicate. Kahlhamer explores his "third place" idea through his paintings and drawings. He is always trying to understand his own history. He mixes his interest in Native American history with his art about today's world.
Loser + Clark
Holland Cotter described Kahlhamer's painting Loser + Clark (1999). He said the paint is put on in strong, brushy lines. It's painted on a white background. This shows Kahlhamer's love for Abstract Expressionism. The painting has many shapes floating around. You can see animals, people in canoes, happy faces, and tall stacks of music speakers. There are also scribbled words and portraits. All these things float through abstract landscapes with green hills and blue skies. The painting feels like the old Plains Indian ledger drawings. But it also has a strong feeling of energy and urgency.
Eagle Fest USA
Eagle Fest USA (2005) is a great example of Kahlhamer's "third place" idea. It shows large, bold drawings that look like pop culture symbols. They also suggest the cycles of life and death. He uses dripping paint and thick lines. He weaves ideas from American Indian history and culture into a large, expressive painting.
Billy Jack Jr.
Kahlhamer's Billy Jack Jr. (2006) shows many different symbols from popular culture. It has expressive figures, animals, and symbols from specific Native American tribes. The artwork refers to the 1971 movie Billy Jack. This film showed how Native Americans faced unfair treatment. It came out during the civil rights movement in the United States. The story of Billy Jack, who was part Native American and part white, adds to the story told in the painting.
Brad Kahlhamer's Sculptures
Brad Kahlhamer calls his sculptures "Spiritual Advisors." He says they "sit like guards" next to his paintings and drawings.
Bowery Nation
Richard Klein wrote about Bowery Nation (1985–2012). Kahlhamer called it an "alternative tribe." Most of the pieces were made from objects found in New York's Lower East Side. This part of the city has a long history of people from different countries moving there. The artwork has over 100 small sculptures placed on a table. Kahlhamer got the idea after seeing a large collection of Hopi Kachina figures at the Heard Museum. Bowery Nation shows a history of different materials and identities. Each figure was made from found objects. They were created in a quick and natural way. The sculptures were like experiments. There was no big plan for them. They don't try to copy specific Hopi figures. Instead, they show Kahlhamer's own mix of artistic ideas.
Super Catcher
Kahlhamer started making new types of sculptures. He used wire, bells, and dreamcatcher shapes. He kept repeating and expanding them. Dreamcatchers are a well-known symbol of Native American culture. Super Catcher (2014) is a huge, tangled net made of wire. It hangs from the ceiling. Kahlhamer calls it "aftermarket spiritual rebar." Someone recently described it as "dream catchers caught in an old fisherman’s net, with small bells." It was shown at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
Brad Kahlhamer's Music
Brad Kahlhamer is also a talented musician. He writes, performs, and produces music. He combines his experiences in both the music and art worlds. He has also made videos that use his visual art and music. In 2015, he told The Huffington Post, "The sounds I play are like the forms in my work – skeletal, jangly, wirey." This shows how he uses materials in a raw, creative way across his painting, sound, and writing.
He has also created album artwork for the music group Man Man.
Past Art Shows
- The Plains Indians: Artists of Earth and Sky, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY
- Bowery Nation, Nelson-Atikins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO
- One Must Know The Animals, Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, Madison, WI
- Tale Spinning, Bates College Museum of Art, Lewiston, ME
- Rapid City, Denver Museum of Contemporary Art, Denver, CO
- The Old, Weird America: Folk Themes in Contemporary Art, Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston, TX
- American Soil, Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, Overland Park, KS
- Radar, Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO
- Picturing Change; the impact of Ledger Drawing on Native American Art, The Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, NH
- Supernova, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA
- Five Years of the Altoids Curiously Strong Collection 1998-2002, New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York, NY
Awards
- Joan Mitchell Award
- Smithsonian Commission
