“My work is about my connection to my surroundings. I paint and draw from life the subjects that are familiar and immediate to me, striving to create an intimate view of these objects, spaces and people by remaining attentive to their particular qualities.”

Mark Karnes received his MFA in painting from Yale University in 1972 and his BFA in painting from Philadelphia College of Art. He has received grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Maryland State Arts Council as well as a Fulbright-Hayes grant for study in Florence, Italy. His work has been widely exhibited both nationally and internationally and can be found in numerous private and museum collections, including the permanent collection of the National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C. Karnes lives in Baltimore, MD, where he has taught drawing and painting at Maryland Institute College of Art since 1974.

Selected Collections

Lessing J. Rosenwald Collection
National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.

Museo della Carta e della Filigrana
Fabriano, Italy

Recent Group Exhibitions

Art dans les Cites, Peintres Americains
Maison de la Bretagne Gallery; Paris; 2012

Aesthetics of Intimacy
List Gallery; Swarthmore College; 2010

American Academy Invitational
American Academy of Arts and Letters; New York; 2009

Italian Landscapes and Interiors
International School Gallery; Umbria, Italy; 2008

Rooms and Voices
Gross McCleaf Gallery; Philadelphia; 2006
 

Recent Solo Exhibitions

Paintings and Drawings 2001–11
Harrisburg Community College; Harrisburg, PA; 2011

Mark Karnes: Paintings and Drawings
College of William and Mary; Williamsburg, VA; 2009

Mark Karnes: Drawings and Selected Paintings
Maryland Institute College of Art; Baltimore; 2007

Selected Grants

Maryland State Arts Council

French Government Brittany Grant

Maryland Institute College of Art Brenner Grant

National Endowment for the Arts in Painting

Fulbright-Hays Grant for Study in Florence

Contact

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