Kenton Nelson | Paintings



2008	Art Basel, Basel, Swizerland Peter Mendenhall Gallery, Los Angeles, CA Red Rot Rouge, Residenzgalerie Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria Art Brussels 26th Contemporary Art Fair, Brussels, Belgium Galerie Michael Haas, Berlin, Germany Arte Fiera, Bologna, Italy

2007	Ruzicska, Salzburg, Austria

2006	Mendenhall Sobieski, Pasadena, CA Plus One, London, UK SCAPE, Corona Del Mar, CA

2005	Reynolds Gallery Retrospective, Westmont College Montecito, California Pasadena Museum of California Art, Retrospective, Pasadena, California Ettinger Gallery, New York, New York Ruzicska, Salzburg, Austria Klaudia Marr Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico Mendenhall Sobieski Gallery, Pasadena, California

2004	Ettinger Gallery, New York, New York SCAPE, Corona Del Mar, California Sullivan Goss Limited, Montecito, California

2003	Klaudia Marr Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico Sullivan Goss Limited, Montecito, California Scott White Contemporary Art, La Jolla, California

2002	DNFA Gallery, Pasadena, California Ettinger Gallery, New York, New York Van De Griff / Marr Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico Sullivan Goss Limited, Montecito, California

2001	DNFA Gallery, Laguna Beach, California Ettinger Gallery, New York, New York DNFA Gallery, Pasadena, California Scott White Contemporary Art, La Jolla, California

2000	DNFA Gallery, Laguna Beach, California Van De Griff Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico Ettinger Gallery, New York, New York

1999	DNFA Gallery, Laguna Beach, California Mendenhall Gallery, Pasadena, California DNFA Gallery, Laguna Beach, California

1998	Mendenhall Gallery, Pasadena, California Ettinger, New York, New York Mendenhall, Pasadena, California Davidson Gallery, Seattle, Washington

1997	Mendenhall Gallery, Pasadena, California Ettinger Gallery, New York, New York Mendenhall Gallery, Pasadena, California Muckenthaler Arts Center, Fullerton, California

1996	Mendenhall Gallery, Pasadena, California Cerritos College Fine Arts Gallery, California Mendenhall Gallery, Pasadena, California

1995	Mendenhall Gallery, Pasadena, California

1994	Mendenhall Gallery, Pasadena, California

1993	Mendenhall Gallery, Pasadena, California



2006	Ruzicska, Salzburg, Austria

2005	Cypress College, California “Point of View” for the Art Gallery Ettinger Gallery, New York, New York Armory Center for the Arts, Pasadena, California

2004	Mendenhall Sobieski Gallery, Pasadena, California Ruzicska, Salzburg, Austria Klaudia Marr Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico Sullivan Goss Limited, Montecito, California Pasadena Art Alliance, Pasadena, California

2003	SCAPE, Corona Del Mar, California Klaudia Marr Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico Pasadena Art Alliance, Pasadena, California Armory Center For The Arts, Pasadena, California Ettinger Gallery, New York, New York

2002	Sullivan Goss Limited, Montecito, California Van De Griff / Marr Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico Ettinger Gallery, New York, New York

2001	Pacific Art Foundation, Newport Beach, California DNFA Gallery, Pasadena, California Van De Griff / Marr, Santa Fe, New Mexico Petersen Automotive Museum, Los Angeles, California Ettinger Gallery, New York, New York Pasadena Art Alliance, Pasadena, California

2000	Mendenhall Gallery, Pasadena, California Armory Center For The Arts, Pasadena, California DNFA, Pasadena, California SOMA Gallery, La Jolla, California Ettinger Gallery, New York, New York

1999	Van De Griff Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico Pasadena Art Alliance, Pasadena, California Albemarle Gallery, London, England DNFA Gallery, Laguna Beach, California Ettinger Gallery, New York, New York

1998	Pasadena Art Alliance, Pasadena, California

1997	Armory Center For the Arts, Pasadena, California Jonathan Club, Los Angeles, California Muckenthaler Cultural Center, Fullerton, California

1996	Pasadena Art Alliance, Pasadena, California

1995	Armory Center For The Arts, Pasadena, California Mendenhall / Twin Palms Collaboration, Pasadena, California

1994	Pasadena Art Alliance, Pasadena, California Armory Center For The Arts, Pasadena, California



2007	Vista Del Arroyo mosaic mural

2007	The Frostig Collection Kenton Nelson, Charles Arnoldi, Gary Baseman, Ed Moses, Alison Saar

2006	Bronze Sculpture, “Chet” (a bellman); The Poor House Foundry in Los Angeles for the Frostig School. Invitational fundraiser with Frank Gehry and Robert Graham.

2003	Mural “The Four Obligations” Polyzoides and Moules Architects and Urbanists; Pasadena, California Registered Historical Landmark; former studio of famed architect Wallace Neff

1997	Mural, “Leisure and Recreation” Arroyo Chop House, Pasadena, California

1994	Mural, (untitled) Daily Grill Restaurant, La Cienega Boulevard Los Angeles, California

1990	Mural, “City Hell” The Rite Spot, Pasadena, California

Present Tense, R. Kenton Nelson, Mendenhall/Ruzicska, 2008

Weinzierl, Gudrun, “Osterausstellungen bei Ruzicska und Ropac:
Kenton Nelson, Francisco Clemente,” review, Salzburger Nachrichten, April 2007

Kronen Zeitung, review, April 2007

Top of Salzburg, essay, April 2007

Die Presse, review, April 2007

Cervin, Michael, review, The Pasadena Weekly, December 2006

California Homes, review, December 2006

Fox, Jacqueline, essay, Arroyo, January 2006

Haggerty, Gerard, review, Art News, December 2005

Woodward, Josef, “Full Nelson Effect,” review, ArtsScene, December 2005

Talkin, Helen, essay, Lifescapes, November 2005

American Art Collector, essay, October 2005

Hemispheres, review, March 2005

“A Peaceable Kingdom: The Paintings of R. Kenton Nelson,” American Artist, essay, February 2005

Geis, Sonya, essay, The Rose, 2005

Rhyme and Reason Prose and Cons, R. Kenton Nelson, Morton Court Publishing, 2005

Casa Santa Barbara, review, September 2004

Susman, Sahra, essay, The Monrovia Weekly, August 2004

Mahler, Richard, “Pool Party,” essay, Southwest Art, July 2004

Collins, Tom, review, Venue North, January 2004

Thomson Randall, Teri, “Glorifying the Utterly Ordinary,” essay, Pasatiempo, December 2003

Woodard, Josef, review, Santa Barbara News, October 2003

“Picture Perfect,” California State University, Long Beach, essay, Fall 2003

The New Yorker, cover, July 2003

Casa Santa Barbara, review, June 2003

The New Yorker, cover, April 2003

Moore, Margaret, Hemispheres, cover and essay, July 2002

Hutchinson, Linda, essay, Pasadena Star News, July 2002

Cline, Lynn, essay, Pasatiempo, May 2002

Atomic, illustrations, Fall/Winter 2001

Coast, cover, June 2001

Kolpas, Norman, “Perfect Worlds,” Southwest Art, cover and essay, March 2001

“20/20-Perfect Vision,” Decor and Style, essay, January 2001

Carasso, Roberta, review Laguna News Post, September 2000

The New Yorker, cover, June 2000

Jarrett, Dennis, review, Santa Fe Reporter, May 2000

Pasadena Star News, essay, June 1999

Gilbert, Rick, review, Laguna News Post, April 1999

Coast, cover, April 1999

The New Yorker, cover, April 1999

Turner, Nancy Kay, review, ArtScene, March 1999

Turner, Grady T., review, ArtNews, February 1999

Kampel, Traci, review, The Villager, October 1998

Picturing a Perfect World, R. Kenton Nelson, publication, 1998

Wilson, Larry, review, Pasadena Star News, December 1997

Where New York, review, May 1997

San Marino Tribune, review, December 1996

Kho, Jennifer, review, Talon Mark News, October 1996

Pasadena Weekly, essay, July 1996

Moure, Nancy, review, Southwest Art, March 1996

Pasadena Weekly, review, January 1996

Pasadena Weekly, essay, November 1995

The Atlantic Monthly, illustrations, July 1995

Hemispheres, essay, April 1995

Pasadena Magazine, illustration, Winter 1994

Williams, Janette, article, Pasadena Star News, November 1994

Buzz, essay, November 1994

Mulgannon, Terry, review, Los Angeles, 1994

Torres, Vicki, essay, Los Angeles Times, January 1991

The Orange County Register, essay, January 1991

“	Kenton Nelson’s work, which has appeared on several covers of The New Yorker, often depicts Americana that brings to mind 1930’s American scene painters, American Regionalists, and Mexican Muralists.” —Cynthia Dea, “Scenes from American Life.” The Los Angeles Times “Critics Choice”

“	His cool dramatics owe more to Charles Sheeler’s linear fussiness and cunning, not to mention the sleek world of graphic design and advertising, than it does to Edward Hopper’s bleak chic...A sweeter formality and less loaded air is seen in another female study figure, “Swim Party #2” in which a woman in a one piece swimsuit and cap lounges elegantly, anonymously, by a backyard pool. This is the opposite of Eric Fischl’s pool parties, where sexual or criminal activities always threaten to invade the suburban calm.” —Josef Woodward, “Full Nelson Effect.” ArtsScene

“	On some level, we know what to expect from the painter R. Kenton Nelson. On other levels, he’s a hard one to figure out or easily place within the pantheon of contemporary painting. Somewhere between those two poles lies the ongoing seductiveness of his approach to painting.” —Josef Woodward, “Getting at Angles.” ArtsScene

“	Informed by an Americana influenced by the WPA and it’s champions as well as his great uncle, Roberto Montenegro, the Mexican Muralist who was a contemporary of Rivera, Orozco, and others, R. Kenton Nelson’s work implies a story line that viewers are seemingly familiar with. Executed on both board and canvas, his paintings are precise, saturated, and polished; wonderful perspectives on the world brought forth through the vision of a truly great exponent of narrative construct.” —“Trouble.” CASA Arts and Entertainment

“	Nelson’s paintings are a kick to look at. But like the short stories by Cheever and Fitzgerald, they are not about milk and honey.” —Lynn Cline, “Nelson’s World.” The New Mexican

“	This is literally a fantastic show. It’ll take you back to whatever world you’re prepared to visit again, whether it’s art or your own dreams of an unsullied future. Nelson’s mock-Soviet version of Southern California gives you all the slack you need to transplant his picture-perfect idealism to your choice of settings or sets.” —Dennis Jarrett, “Picture-Perfect.” SF Reporter

“	Nelson paints in crisp bright hues redolent of Depression-era children’s-book illustrations. Shadows are cleanly defined, edges are carefully delineated, and everything—from lighthouses to clouds—is given equal weight. Nelson creates an American ideal reminiscent of Dick and Jane or Ozzie and Harriet.” —Grady Turner, “New York Reviews.” ARTnews

“	Something darker, though, does seem to call from beneath the tidy surface, implanting an almost undetectable uneasiness. Or perhaps it’s our collective skepticism that invite the uncomfortable sensation. Perhaps we are so used to malevolence in today’s society that we assume it’s presence.” —Traci Kampel, The Villager

“	Fables for our time, these are cynical little mysteries which leave the viewer to fill in the blanks.” —Rick Gilbert, “Houses of Everyday Life...” Art Beat