Forrest Kirk
Tupac Reincarnated, 2021
Acrylic, spray paint, and gorilla glue on canvas
36 x 36 in (91.4 x 91.4 cm)
Forrest Kirk
Blind Tiger, 2021
Acrylic, spray paint, and gorilla glue on canvas
72 x 120 in (182.9 x 304.8 cm)
Forrest Kirk
b. 1975, San Diego, CA
Lives and works in Los Angeles.
Forrest studied at California State University, Los Angeles, and spent a year studying classical painting techniques in an atelier in Paris, France. In 2019, Kirk was a resident at the Bed Stuy Artist Residency, Brooklyn, NY. His work resides in numerous private collections and foundations, as well as in the permanent collection of the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, CA and Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego.
The bold chromatic diversity of Forrest’s paintings are achieved using a variety of media ranging from oils and acrylic to bubble wrap, fabric and Gorilla glue. His images often reference psychological uncertainty and anxiety arising from underlying power structures, specifically those experienced in contemporary urban settings.
EDUCATION
2008 California State University, Los Angeles, CA
SELECT SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2020 9 Fists, Parrasch Heijnen Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2019 Bed-Stuy Art residency, Brooklyn, NY
2018 Body Count, Chimento Contemporary, Los Angeles, CA
SELECT GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2021 In Situ, Marianne Boesky, New York, NY
2020 Artist for New York- Hauser Wirth New York, NY
Behind Face- Gallery Platform LA (online)
FOG Art Fair- San Francisco, CA
2019 Untitled Art Fair, Miami, FL
Benefit Auction, JOAN, Los Angeles, CA
Spring Break Art Fair, Los Angeles, CA
Rema Mann Hort Foundation Auction, Wekartz, Los Angeles, CA
Protest, noun- Torrance Art Museum, Torrance, CA
Plan B Art Fair New York, NY
2018 Killers Three, Post, Los Angeles, CA
Aztlanization, Center for Arts, Pomona, CA
Make Your Mark, Museum of Contemporary Art, Marin Novato, CA
Barker Hanger, ODD Ark LA, Los Angeles, CA
Altered Book, Museum of Contemporary Art, Marin Novato, CA
Rema Mann Hort Foundation, Auction, Nicodem Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2017 Contemporary Landscape, Museum of Contemporary Art, Marin Novato, CA
Drawn Together, group show, Art Share LA Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Grand Opening, DSR Studios, Los Angeles, CA
BIBLIOGRAPHY
2020 Forrest Kirk: ‘It Doesn’t Always Have to be Didactic.’ Artillery Magazine (September 8, 2020)
Covid-19 and Anti-Racism Movements Create New Urgency for woking artist, KCET (online)
2019 Meet Artist Forrest Kirk by Shana Dambrot, “Meet An Artist Monday: Forrest Kirk”. LA Weekly (March 25, 2019); [online]
Sacha Baumann’s FULL BLEDE, Art and Cake, LA (July 23, 2019); [online]
2018 Review: Police, violence and an artist who paints to provoke, Los Angeles Times (July 9, 2018); [online]
Datebook: Police violence paintings, Los AngelesTimes (June 21, 2018); [online]
Studio Visit: Forrest Kirk, Curate LA (March 25, 2018); [online]
MUSEUM COLLECTIONS
Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, CA
Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego, CA
