Gary Kuehn is one of the well-known artists in the USA, but his work has also been continuously exhibited in Germany since the late 1960s. His extensive oeuvre includes sculptures, paintings, collages and drawings. Kuehn is not interested in illustrating purely structured and methodical work in his art, but rather in reacting again and again to social contexts in relation to his own state of mind.
This combination of emotional subjectivity and the perception of facts of an objective reality is the basis for his works. With an enormous sense for materiality and a craftsmanlike knowledge of its characteristics Kuehn works with wood, metal, plaster, polyester, plexiglass, aluminium and steel. Kuehn is well known for his sculptures from the 1960s, which at first glance appear to be classics of Minimal Art. At second glance, however, their playful, personal and often contradictory nature creates a surprisingly subtle tension that has been stringently present throughout his extensive oeuvre for over five decades. Kuehn studied art history at Drew University in Madison, New Jersey in 1962 and visual arts at Rutgers State University in New Brunswick, New Jersey, from 1964. The trained steelworker worked for years in construction and as a roofer, which he used to finance his studies.
In 1979, he accepts an invitation from the DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) to come to Berlin, where he spends a year working. Kuehn has held teaching positions at various American universities since 1965. Museums worldwide have dedicated exhibitions to him.