John Paul Kesling (b. 1980, USA) was born and raised in Northeastern Kentucky in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. He received his BFA in Arts from Morehead State University (Morehead, KY, 2003) and spent a summer in Europe studying art history (Summer 2002). He received his MFA in Painting from The Savannah College of Art and Design (Savannah, GA, 2010). He spent the next six years in Brooklyn, NY immersed in the NYC art scene. In March of 2016, while attending a month-long residency at The Vermont Studio Center he realized how integral time, space, and nature were to his studio practice and in 2016, relocated to Madison, TN, just outside of Nashville.
His work has been featured in various group exhibitions at Ground Floor Contemporary (Birmingham, AL), The Parthenon (Nashville, TN), CultureLab LIC (Queens, NY), Piano Craft Gallery (Boston, MA), New York Hall of Science & SciArts Initiative (Queens, NY), Flatwork Contemporary (online), I Like Your Work Podcast (online and print), ArtMaze Mag (online and print), Create Magazine (online) and the NYC Crit Club Winter Session 2023 (curated by MEPAINTSME). In 2022 he was accepted to the White Columns Curated Online Artist Registry (New York, NY). His work is included in the permanent collections of The Savannah College of Art and Design (Atlanta, GA and Lacoste, France), Vanderbilt University Medical Center Community Arts Initiative and Soho House Nashville. He has attended artist residencies at Vermont Studio Center (Johnson, VT), Art Residency Chattanooga (Chattanooga, TN), Azule (Hot Springs, NC), Jx Farms (Cleveland, MS), and Mudhouse (Crete, Greece) and and upcoming residency at On::View Artist Residency (Savannah, GA). He has had solo shows at Wheelhouse Arts (Louisville, KY), Oz Arts (Nashville, TN) and The Red Arrow Gallery (Nashville, TN).
Kesling is a member of the artist collective at Ground Floor Contemporary (Birmingham, AL) and is represented by Red Arrow Gallery (Nashville, TN) and Wheelhouse Art (Louisville, KY).
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I Like Your Work is dedicated to supporting artists, creating community and providing opportunities and resources. Our podcast interviews creative people from painters and artists to collectors and curators. People who are involved in a creative lifestyle and also in building community within the arts. I Like Your Work is hosted by artist and curator Erika b Hess.
We have expanded to include Studio Visit Artists and exhibitions. Studio Visit Artists are artists making great work that we want to share. You can see their work on the site and on our social media. We also partner with galleries and curators to curate shows both in gallery spaces and permanently on our site. All artists who apply are considered for future shows and to have their work shared on our social media.
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