Karel Funk lives and works in Winnipeg, Canada. He received a BFA from the University of Manitoba in 1997 and an MFA from Columbia University in New York in 2003. Over the last decade he has investigated the possibilities of figurative portraits that find a bridge between historical signifiers, the dominant being renaissance portraiture, and contemporary urbanism. Using acrylic paint Funk builds his portraits through a glazing technique, often taking months to complete one painting. Funk has had five solo shows at 303 Gallery in New York, three museum shows and participated in several group shows in North America and abroad. In 2016 Funk was the subject of a museum retrospective held at the Winnipeg Art Gallery. His work is in the collections of institutions such as the Guggenheim, Whitney Museum and the National Gallery of Canada, as well as many private collections.
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SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
2018 Monte Clark Gallery, Vancouver, Canada
2017 303 Gallery, New York
2016 “Karel Funk”, Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg, Canada
2015 Galerie Division, Montreal, Canada
2014 “1+1=1: When Collections Collide”, Montreal Museum of Fine Art, Montreal, Canada
2012 “Winter Kept Us Warm” curated by Anthony Kiendl and Noam Gonick,
Plug In Institute of Contemporary Art, Winnipeg, Canada
“The Perfect Show”, 303 Gallery, New York, NY
2011 “My Winnipeg”, curated by Guy Maddin and Noam Gonick La Maison Rouge – Fondation Antoie de Galbert, Paris, France
2010 303 Gallery, New York, NY
2009 Rochester Art Center, Rochester, MN
2007 Musee d’Art Contemporain de Montreal, Montreal Canada
PUBLIC AND MUSEUM COLLECTIONS
Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Canada
Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, TX
Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, CA
Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA
Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA
Musee d’Art Contemporain de Montreal, Montreal, Canada
The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Montreal, Canada
National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Canada
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY