Modern Petroglyphs
Kevin Sudeith
May 16th – June 14th, 2013

For the past three years, artist Kevin Sudeith has been traveling through the United States making stone carvings in immovable rock outcroppings. Sudeith is the only petroglyphist working today, and his work resides in a nether-region between fine art and outsider or folk art. His first solo show in New York City will feature a unique form of printmaking: Sudeith makes archival impressions of the petroglyphs on paper. To make the impressions, the carvings are painted with pigmented ink and then wet paper is applied to the carving; the paper absorbs the colored ink and captures the three dimensional space of the carving as an embossing. Also featured in the show will be time lapse videos of Sudeith making the petroglyphs and impressions. An array of Sudeith’s signature motifs, or emblems, will be on display. Sudeith does not permit photographic reproduction of these emblems, so one must go to a petroglyph site or see an impression. Also on display will be two new movable carvings on granite and marble slabs. 

Sudeith has renewed the most antiquated art, carving petroglyphs, and infused it with contemporary life. Traveling alone and meeting diverse people along the way, Sudeith documents their lives, their stories, and their work in the most indelible medium. Each petroglyph is site specific and composed of images of the nature and endeavors near the petroglyph site. For example, in North Dakota, Sudeith carved broad-acre farming and oil production: tractors, combines, pumping derricks and tanker trucks. In Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Sudeith has carved -at true life scale- the fish brought ashore at the petroglyph site. Sudeith’s petroglyphs fuse art with science and technology, for all his works include aerospace imagery: satellites, space-based scientific instruments, and space vehicles. The artist’s choice of imagery is inspired by the brilliance of human exploration, invention, and adventure. 

Kevin Sudeith (b. 1965, St. Paul, MN) received a BFA from the San Francisco Art Institute and an MFA from the School of Visual Arts in New York City, where he has lived for the past 20 years. His work has been featured at the Earl McGrath Gallery and Charles Cowles Gallery, both in New York City, and Gallery Paule Anglim in San Francisco. He has been making rock art since 2003. Sudeith is currently ‘at large’, traveling America making petroglyphs. His journey is chronicled on his website, Petroglyphist.com.

Press
Hyperallergic: A Talk with a Modern-Day Petroglyphist
Wall Street Journal: Rolling in Search of Rock
The New York Times: Bringing an Ancient Art Form to the Edge of Modern Manhattan