Ken Kalman has worked with a range of materials throughout his career. It is an ongoing exploration of how form and meaning can be constructed from discrete elements. Each artwork is developed and executed solely by Kalman himself. His work thus reveals both the vision of the artist and the skill of the craftsperson.
Metal sculptures are shaped from aluminum or copper plate with hand-cast details. Wooden constructions are created from many smaller elements. Watercolor paintings are composed of geometric shapes that are, in turn, created with pointillist brushwork. Multimedia sculptures result from unexpected combinations of aluminum, plastic, and found materials.
Kalman is a Detroit native who studied and worked in Boston and Albuquerque before settling in the Bay Area more than 20 years ago. He holds an MFA from the San Francisco Art Institute and a bachelor’s degree from the University of New Mexico.
Bay Area exhibitions have included Claudia Chapline Gallery, Stinson Beach, Sonoma Valley Museum of Art, Sonoma, and in San Francisco, the Virginia Breier Gallery, Terrain Gallery, Vorpal Gallery, Museum exhibitions include the Carlsbad Fine Arts Museum, Carlsbad, NM, Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA, Jewish Community Museum, San Francisco, CA, Seattle Art Center, Seattle, WA, and the Museum of Craft and Folk Art, San Francisco, CA.
Kalman’s artworks can be found in private and corporate collections across the country; the Nestle Corporation, the Milwaukee Bucks, Tiffany & Company, and the US Department of State in Washington DC, to name a few. Private Collectors include Mr. & Mrs. Paul Cook, Mr. & Mrs. Patrick Kennedy, Ms. Danielle Steele, Mrs. Brett Pabst, Mr. John Traina.
BORN in Detroit, Michigan, 1955
EDUCATION
1998 MFA, Sculpture, San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco, California
1981 B.A., Fine Arts, Painting, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM
1979 B.A., History, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM
1977-78 Undergraduate Studies, Northern Michigan University, Marquette, MI
1975-77 College of Basic Studies, Boston University, Boston, MA
COMMISSIONS
2021-22 Republic Urban Properties (4 aluminum sculptures) Gateway Project, Millbrae, CA
2020-21 The Rosen Table Hillsbourgh, CA
2019-21 Panoramic Interests, City Gardens 333 12th Street, SF (lobby and furniture)
2018-19 Panoramic Interests (facade and gates) 2711 Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley
2017 Mr. Anderson and Mrs. Miner (copper lizard) SF, CA
2015-17 The Panoramic (copper sculptures and furniture) 1321 Mission Street, SF
2015 The Panoramic (“Urban Currents”) 1321 Mission Street, SF
2009-10 Perforce (aluminum giraffe, tree, and seagulls) Alameda, CA
2006 UC Storage (aluminum relief sculpture “Oceana”) 2127 Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley, CA
2002 Artech Building (copper salamander) Berkeley, CA
ONE PERSON EXHIBITIONS
2013 Ken Kalman: Points of Interest, George Krevsky Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2012 A Historical Narrative: A Survey Through Objects and Collectables by Ken Kalman. San Marco Gallery,
Dominican University, San Rafael, CA
2012 Ken Kalman, OK Harris, New York, NY
2009 Ken Kalman, Metal, Wood, Paper, George Krevsky Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2008 Animal, Insects and Mapworks, Claudia Chapline Gallery, Stinson Beach, CA
2006 Crockett Contemporary Art, Crockett, CA
2002 “Native”, Lindsay Wildlife Museum, sculptures by Ken Kalman, Walnut Creek, CA
1995 Transamerica Two, San Francisco, CA
AirTouch Communications, Walnut Creek, CA
1994 Gensler and Associates Architects, San Francisco, CA
1993 Reed Whipple Cultural Center, Las Vegas, NV
TWO AND THREE PERSON EXHIBITIONS
2004 Aluminum, Three Person Show, Virginia Breier Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1999 Central California Art Center, Two Person Show, Modesto, CA
1994 Sculpture, Works by Kalman, Bui and Thrift, Vorpal Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1993 4N3D, Works by Bui, Falk, Kalman and Matsumoto, Vorpal Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Constructure, Works by Robin Bernstein and Ken Kalman, College of Marin Art Gallery, Kentfield Campus, San Raphael, CA
Ken Kalman and Michael Wells, New Ground Gallery, Montclair, CA
1992 Ken Kalman and Neil Hart, Modesto Junior College Art Gallery, Modesto, CA
1991 Ken Hendrickson and Ken Kalman, Vorpal Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1990 “Independence / Interdependence”, Paul Douglas and Ken Kalman, Vorpal Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1989 Mary Hatch and Ken Kalman, Ruth Volid Gallery, Chicago, IL
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2012 “Artistic Visions of the Golden Gate Bridge”, George Krevsky Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2012 “Football Invitational” National Art Museum of Sport, Indianapolis, IN
2011 “14th Annual Art of Baseball Exhibition” George Krevsky Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2010 “Mapping: Memory and Motion in Contemporary Art”, Katonah Museum of Art, Katonah, NY
2009 A Modern Day Drawings Cabinet, Bay Area Figurative Works, George Krevsky Gallery, San Francisc, CA
2009 “Marking Time: Omer Calendars by Community Artists”, BJE Jewish Community Library, San Francisco, CA
2008 Wild Thing! The Gallery at Cliff Lede Vineyards. Yountville, CA
“Building a Team”, The 11th Annual Art of Baseball Exhibition, George Krevsky Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Community Artists Look at Israel, BJE Jewish Community Library, San Francisco, CA
2007 Small Treasures with a Special Twist, Solomon Dubnick Gallery, Sacramento, CA
“Curtain Call,” Solomon Dubnick Gallery, Sacramento, CA
“Americana”, The Main ARTery Gallery, Benicia, CA
Spring Training: The Art of Baseball, George Krevsky Gallery, San Francisco, CA
All About Books: Artists’ Books, BJE Jewish Community Library, San Francisco, CA
George Krevsky Gallery, “A Closer Look.” San Francisco, CA
Sonoma Valley Museum of Art, “Creatures of Magic and Myth,” Sonoma, CA
2006 Perlow-Stevens Gallery, 2006 Fall Exhibit, Columbia, MO
Menagerie: Artists Look at Animals, Museum of Craft and Folk Art, San Francisco, CA
George Krevsky Gallery, “My America,” San Francisco, CA
James Gallery, “Baseball and Jazz,” Pittsburgh, PA
Claudia Chapline Gallery, “Summer Exhibition,” Stinson Beach, CA
I. Wolk Gallery, Auberge du Soleil, Rutherford, CA
12th Annual Ruth Bancroft Garden Sculpture Show, Walnut Creek, CA
Artscape, “Spring Green and Woven Things,” Walnut Creek, CA
George Krevsky Gallery, “Top of the Ninth, The Art of Baseball.” San Francisco, CA
2005 George Krevsky Gallery, “Works on Paper.” San Francisco, CA
Virginia Breier Gallery, “Tiger in the House.” San Francisco, CA
George Krevsky Gallery, “Sculpture: Then and Now.” San Francisco, CA
2004 Claudia Chapline Gallery, Stinson Beach, CA
Virginia Breier Gallery, “Primates”, San Francisco, CA
Modesto Junior College Faculty Exhibition, Modesto, CA
Solomon Dubnick Gallery, Sacramento, CA
2003 Virginia Breier Gallery, “Time”, San Francisco, CA
Virginia Breier Gallery, “Metal”, San Francisco, CA
2002 Virginia Breier Gallery, “Figurative Show”, San Francisco, CA
2001 Modesto Junior College Faculty Exhibition, Modesto, CA
Claudia Chapline Gallery, Stinson Beach, CA
2000 “Inspired by Title”,Terrain Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1999 Modesto Junior College Faculty Exhibition, Modesto, CA
Terrain Gallery, “Before the Fall,” 5 Sculptors, San Francisco, CA
1998 Boritzer, Gray, Hamano Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
Terrain Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Island Arts, Newport, RI
Yerba Buena Sculpture Walk ’98, San Francisco, CA
San Francisco Art Institute, Masters Thesis Exhibition, Herbst Pavillion Fort Mason, San Francisco, CA
1997 Terrain Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Lumina of New Mexico, Taos, NM
Yerba Buena Sculpture Walk ’97, San Francisco, CA
Posner Gallery, Birmingham, MI
Walter/McBean Gallery, San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco, CA
Quietude Garden Gallery, East Brunswick, NJ
Northern Telecommunications Corporation, Santa Clara, CA
1996 Northern Telecommunications Corporation, Santa Clara, CA
Yerba Buena Sculpture Walk ’96, San Francisco, CA
Terrain Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Joan Roebuck Gallery, Lafayette, CA
1995 Joan Roebuck Gallery, Lafayette, CA
Posner Fine Art, Santa Monica, CA
1993 Terrain Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Vorpal Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1992 Vorpal Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1991 Vorpal Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Gallery West, Los Angeles, CA
1990 Vorpal Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1989 Ruth Volid Gallery, Chicago, IL
Vorpal Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1988 Arden Gallery, Boston, MA
Vorpal Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Gallery West, Los Angeles, CA
Ruth Volid Gallery, Chicago, IL
1987 Vorpal Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1986 Interart Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1985 Djurovich Gallery, Sacramento, CA
1983 Los Llanos Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
GMB Gallery, Birmingham, MI
Navasaya Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
1982 Robert Taylor Galleries, Houston, TX
Images ll, Houston, TX
Ruth Volid Gallery, Chicago, IL
Performance Gallery, Albuquerque, NM
1978 Bloomfield Art Association, Birmingham, MI
CORPORATE COLLECTIONS
United States Department of State, Washington, D.C.
Milwaukee Bucks, Milwaukee, WI
Nestle Corporation, Glendale, CA
Letterpower Institute, Chicago, IL
Crawford/Wu Films, San Francisco, CA
Abbott Laboratories, Chicago, IL
Hewlett Packard Corp., San Diego, CA
Hewlett Packard Corp., Atlanta, Georgia
Kaiser Permanente Corporation, Rancho Cordova, CA
Kaiser Permanente Corporation, San Francisco, CA
Corp Art, Rockville, MD
Tiffany and Company Jewelers, San Francisco, CA
Intergroup Corporation, Los Angeles, CA
Ruth Volid Gallery Inc., Chicago, IL
Pensione International Hotel, San Francisco, CA
Sheppard Pratt Health System, Baltimore, MD
Jewish Community Library, San Francisco, CA
PATENTS
Folding semi-table bracket
Eco-Basin