

Ken Lerner
Born: 1947
Hometown: New York
Based in: New York
Born: 1947
Hometown: New York
Based in: New York
Artist Bio
1953 - 1st camera in my hands - thus began a lengthy (on and off for twenty plus years) , though in early years, haphazard, photographic study with my father (a renowned photographer with Time-Life Magazines - 1st to ever photograph Michelangelo”s Sistine Chapel for Life Magazine; 1st western photographer allowed to photograph the artworks of the Hermitage & Pushkin museums collections in Soviet Russia (for Ladies Home Journal); contract photographer to Time Magazine for over 40 years).
During various times I was his assistant in photographic shoots on location at - The White House, Washington DC ( for NY Times Magazine); Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC (for Time Magazine); Fogg Museum, Harvard University (for Time Magazine); Yale University Library ( for Time Magazine); multiple museums and private collections throughout Texas and New Mexico - a lengthy and very extensive photo-shoot of over 2 months for Time Life Books (The Art of the Spanish Southwest); the Whitney Museum (for Time Magazine); Museum of Modern Art (for Time Magazine); Guggenheim Museum (for Time Magazine)
1963-67 - University - MIT - science major but took courses in photography with Minor White (previous student of Ansel Adams; later- on MIT faculty); and took animation course on the Oxberry Animation Camera with a noted animator on the Harvard faculty, Derek Lamb (his animations have been on the opening credits of BBC’s Mystery series broadcasts for over 50 years)
1967 - 1st showing (group show - three artists) of multiple exposure photographs at Circle in the Square Gallery, Cambridge, Massachusetts
1967-68 - 1 year of graduate studies in film making at the Boston University School of Communications; simultaneous work fellowship with WGBH-TV, Boston, Massachusetts
1969-1980 - freelance photographer in NYC - clients included Columbia Records, High Times Magazine, Salsoul Records - a one-man show of multiple exposures works at Caliban’s 1973
1980-1984 - freelance photographer Munich, Germany - clients included Madam Magazin (Munich); Du Magazin (Zurich); Art Magazin (Hamburg); Jackie Fine Arts (NYC); Atelier du Leder (Zurich) - 1982 - a one-man show of multiple exposures works at Cafe Reitschule, Munich // also designed and fabricated a line of custom made women’s belts
1985 - 1995 - photographic artist NYC // 1989 - a one-man show of multiple exposure works, Peridance Center, NYC // 1991 - group show (4 artists) - Spectrum Gallery, Southampton, NY // 1991 - group show (2 artists) Westhampton Beach Library // 1992 - one-man show - The Silver Swan, NYC // also designed and built models of over 10 experimental catamaran sailboats, solo built 2 full-scale sailing catamarans.
1996 - 2014 - no photographic works during this time - had a career in financial sales - World Futures (commodity brokerage) & Institutional Investor (financial information publisher)
2015 - present - photographic fine artist
What inspires you?
The things that inspire me are: the absolute beauty of raw nature, unusual geometric patterns and reflections, alternative views of reality, classical architecture
What are 3 words that best describe your work?
imagined reality, geometric, impressionistic
Who are some artists that have influenced your work?
Dali, Pollack, JMW Turner, Monet, Renoir, Kandinsky, Picasso, Jean Metzinger, Juan Gris, Lionel Feininger
What is the most important tool when creating your work?
imagination
What is the best piece of advice you have been given?
stay true to your vision
Where do you go for inspiration?
I can get inspired almost everywhere - small details among a seemingly normal scene are very intriguing and mostly overlooked by the untrained eye
2 Articles
Top 10 New York Artists to Discover And Invest In
November 18, 2024
New & Noteworthy: July 2022
July 15, 2022
Exhibitions
Discovering New Talent (Group Show)
United States of America, 1991
Ken Lerner - New Works
United States of America, 1989
An Alternative View
Germany, 1983
Imagined Reality
United States of America, 1973
New Works of Emerging Artists
United States of America, 1967