Skip to main content
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 3

Kris Kuksi
Ferdinand von Howlitzerhead, Mixed Media Art by Kris Kuksi, 2014

2014

Price Upon Request
Price Upon Request
Price Upon Request
Price Upon Request
Price Upon Request
Price Upon Request
Price Upon Request
Price Upon Request
Price Upon Request
Price Upon Request

About the Item

Ferdinand von Howlitzerhead, 2014 Oftentimes appearing as unorthodox altarpieces, Kris Kuksi's sculptural wall works have been heralded for their superabundance of detail and narrative – as several theatrical microcosms may converge to produce one sensory fable. Teeming with struggle, conflict, faith, sexuality, and power, his works afford the viewer a ringside seat for allegorical spectacle as the spheres of fantasy and reality collide.

Kuksi’s ornate compositions call to mind the excessive intricacies of Art Nouveau or Baroque aesthetics. From a distance, these sculptures are deceptively decorative, but upon closer inspection Kuksi's grotesque realities emerge. In some works, central figures preside over mounting chaos below; infinitesimal creatures, soldiers, and machinery collide with their larger counterparts, and forge a warscape void of time and place. In others, Kuksi achieves a precise structural equilibrium in which his minute armies become a single enormous figure – as if the proverbial Trojan Horse is operated by its most aberrant inhabitants. Reminiscent of Hieronymus Bosch’s “Garden of Earthly Delights,” Kuksi’s characters inhabit a world rife with sin, corruption, and tragedy; an existence not so alien to our own.

The artist obsessively collects and arranges a variety of cultural flotsam and jetsam – figurines, model parts, collectibles, craft parts, and jewelry. The carefully curated and protracted collection process required for each piece renders each and every item a precious and integral object in these apocalyptic dioramas. The political, spiritual, and material conflicts captured within these shrines expose Kuksi’s disenchantment with the past, present, and future state of the world. His dimensional works are a macabre reflection that mirrors our own (ultimately futile) quest for accumulation and prowess. Yet, despite the overwhelming despair and irredeemable fallacies of man that Kuksi explores, a romantic and wistful quality perseveres in the amalgamation of these tiny, independent elements. As is found within our own cyclical global history, the embattled often find light within their trials. Additional information: Medium: Mixed media assemblage Dimensions: 76 × 52 × 33 in 193 × 132.1 × 83.8 cm Condition: Good Signature: Hand-signed by artist, inscribed and dated on the base Born in 1973 in Springfield, Missouri, Kris Kuksi earned his BFA and MFA in painting at Fort Hays State University. He also studied internationally while enrolled in programs in Germany, Austria, and Italy. His work has been featured in over 100 exhibitions worldwide, including those at La Halle Satin Pierre Museum (Paris), Museum of the History of Science (Oxford), Williamsburg Art and Historial Society (New York), and the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery (D.C.), as well as within numerous international art magazines and fictional book covers. Solo exhibitions of his work have been presented in New York, Los Angeles, Seattle, Basel, Toronto, Berlin, Washington D.C., and Kansas City. The artist lives and works in Lawrence, Kansas. Kris Kuksi creates elaborate three-dimensional compositions that serve as reminders of human frailty in an age of consumption gone wild. He crafts eerie, graceful pieces from found materials, such as toy soldiers, model kits, plastic animals, jewelry, and knick-knack figurines. “I get inspired by the industrial world, all the rigidity of machinery, the network of pipes, wires, refineries, etc. Then I join that with an opposite of flowing graceful, harmonious, and pleasing design of the baroque and rococo,” the artist has said. His richly detailed paintings also include “a bit of weirdness and the macabre.” Kuksi’s works have been compared to religious altarpieces and the proto-surrealist compositions of Hieronymus Bosch.
  • Creator:
  • Creation Year:
    2014
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 76 in (193.04 cm)Width: 52 in (132.08 cm)Depth: 33 in (83.82 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
  • Gallery Location:
    Orange, CA
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU2793216503002

More From This Seller

View All
Centaurette 8, Cast Bronze Sculpture by Allison Schulnik, 2017
By Allison Schulnik
Located in Orange, CA
Centaurette 8, Cast Bronze Sculpture by Allison Schulnik, 2017 Additional information: Medium: Cast bronze on stone base Dimensions: 29 × 20 × 8 in (...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Stone, Bronze

Centaurette 6, Cast Bronze Sculpture by Allison Schulnik, 2017
By Allison Schulnik
Located in Orange, CA
Centaurette 6, Cast Bronze Sculpture by Allison Schulnik, 2017 Additional information: Medium: Cast bronze on stone base Dimensions: 29 × 20 × 8 in (...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Stone, Bronze

Lewd and Tender, Sculpture by Meghan Smythe, 2014
Located in Orange, CA
Lewd and Tender, Sculpture by Meghan Smythe, 2014 Additional information: Medium: Ceramic, glaze, epoxy, foam, resin, plasticine Dimensions: 44 x 24 x 40 inches Using a traditiona...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Ceramic, Glaze, Resin, Foam

Untitled A, Sculpture by Meghan Smythe, 2016
Located in Orange, CA
Untitled A, Sculpture by Meghan Smythe, 2016 Additional information: Medium: Ceramic, glaze, silicon, epoxy, plasticine, foam Dimensions: 49 x 27 x 32 inches Using a traditional sc...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Sculptures

Materials

Ceramic, Glaze, Foam, Silicone

Untitled, Glazed Stoneware, 2022
By David Klamen
Located in Orange, CA
Untitled, Glazed Stoneware, 2022 Additional information: Medium: Glazed stoneware Condition: Excellent Dimensions: 29 x 19 x 16 in About artist: David Klamen (American, b.1961) is ...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Still-life Sculptures

Materials

Stoneware, Glaze

Poseidon, Glazed Earthenware by Jeffry Mitchell, 2014
By Jeffry Mitchell
Located in Orange, CA
Poseidon, Glazed Earthenware by Jeffry Mitchell, 2014 Additional information: Medium: Glazed earthenware Dimensions: 17 x 15 x 12 in About artist: Jeffry Mitchell’s primary medium ...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Earthenware

You May Also Like

Feminist Figurative Mixed Media Contemporary Sculpture Warrior Waging Peace 1279
Located in New York, NY
Linda Stein, Warrior Waging Peace: Addressing Fear 1279 - Feminist Figurative Mixed Media Black and Colorful Contemporary Sculpture T...
Category

2010s Feminist Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Metal

Feminist Figurative Mixed Media Contemporary Sculpture Warrior Waging Peace 1282
Located in New York, NY
Linda Stein, Warrior Waging Peace: Addressing Protection 1282 - Feminist Figurative Mixed Media Black and Colorful Contemporary Sculpture Free-standing contemporary sculpture with...
Category

2010s Feminist Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Metal

Feminist Figurative Mixed Media Contemporary Sculpture Warrior Waging Peace 1285
Located in New York, NY
Linda Stein, Warrior Waging Peace: Opulent Diversity 1285 - Feminist Figurative Mixed Media Black and Colorful Contemporary Sculpture Free-standing contemporary sculpture with ves...
Category

1980s Contemporary Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Metal

American Contemporary Mixed Media Sculpture - Linda Stein, Knight of Promise 558
Located in New York, NY
This sculpture from Linda Stein’s Knights of Protection series functions both as a defender in battle and a symbol of pacifism. The series references popular and religious icons such as Wonder Woman, Princess Mononoke...
Category

Early 2000s Contemporary Abstract Sculptures

Materials

Stone, Metal

American Contemporary Mixed Media Sculpture - Linda Stein, Knight of Wishing 557
Located in New York, NY
This sculpture from Linda Stein’s Knights of Protection series functions both as a defender in battle and a symbol of pacifism. The series references popular and religious icons suc...
Category

Early 2000s Contemporary Abstract Sculptures

Materials

Stone, Metal

'Merida' Mixed Media Sculpturing Using Found Materials
By John Petrey
Located in Rye, NY
From Petrey's Dress Series, Merida is a life size sculpture and is made out of blue, green and Silver patina copper and steel.
Category

2010s Contemporary Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Metal