Born in New York City in 1951, the son of a Czech architect and Viennese writer, Gary Komarin’s stalwart images have an epic quality that grips the viewer with the idea that he or she is looking at a contemporary description of something timeless.
For Komarin, abstraction is not a formal dead end. Rather, it has allowed him to challenge its limitations to make painting ‘include more’ whilst resisting clearly defined literal imagery, precisely because a recognizable image can also exclude too much.
Educated under his mentor Phillip Guston at Boston University, he has since exhibited extensively throughout the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and Asia and his work is included in many important institutional and private collections.
Recent museum exhibitions include Moon Flows like a Willow at the Musee Kiyoharu in Japan and Twenty Four Vessels at Kit Mandor at the Musee Mougins in the South of France. In 2020 Gary Komarin will have two solo exhibitions in South Korea at the Azjuelo Museum and Dado MuseumS.
Komarin lives and works in a house and studio in the wooded hills of Roxbury, Connecticut.
--------------------------------------------------------
M U S E U M C O L L E C T I O N S & M E D I A C O V E R A G E
Articles and essays about Komarin’s work have been published in the New York Times, Art in America, and Arts Magazine among others.
His work may be found in many noted public collections including: Galleria Nazionale d’ Arte Moderna, Rome, Italy; Denver Art Museum, Denver; The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; The Yoshii Foundation, Tokyo; Musée Kiyoharu Shirakaba, Hokuto; Musée d’Art Classique de Mougins, Mougins; Boise Art Museum, Idaho; The Montclair Art Museum, New Jersey; Boston University Museum of Fine Arts; The Microsoft Corporation, Blount International, Atlanta; The United Bank of Houston, The Hyatt Corporation and American Airlines.
Private collections include: Sheila Simonian, New York; James Maher, New York; John McEnroe, New York; Candace Bushnell, New York; The N. Horiuchi Collection, Tokyo; Maxwell Davidson, New York; The Gisep Biert Collection, Zurich; The Abrussezze Collection, New York; The Ron Gremillion Collection, Houston; Mason Klein, The Jewish Museum, New York; Kathryn McCarver Root, New York; Tim Jefferies, London; Robert Lamb, Chicago; Toby Clarke, London; Meredith Long, Houston; David Alan Greer, Los Angeles; Jeffrey Hoffeld, New York; Marian Boesky, New York; Tim Culbertt, New York; Wendy Olsoff, New York; The Gonzalo Alvar Collection, Madrid; Ruth O’Hara, New York; Visko Hatfield, Connecticut; Florence de Dampierre, Connecticut.
In 2016, a 60 Minutes Producer, Harry Moses, shot, produced and directed a short documentary film
on Gary Komarin titled, The Painter’s Path. This film can be viewed at https://vimeo.com/199892223. This follows Komarin’s invitation to participate in a film titled, The Chalkboard Chronicles, narrated by Spalding Grey. He was also included in a recent documentary on American master Clyfford Still, which was aired at the New Clyfford Still Museum in Denver, where Komarin’s work was also acquired for their permanent collection.