about Kenneth Weiner
Kenneth Weiner is a New Jersey–based artist and honors graduate with a bachelor's degree in Studio Art from Montclair State University, where he continued with his post-graduate studies. He also attended the Fashion Institute of Technology and The Art Students League of New York, where he studied drawing under Robert Beverly Hale, then curator of American paintings at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Weiner is currently a member of The West Essex Art Association, The Livingston Arts Association, and Studio Montclair. His artwork has won many awards and he has had numerous solo shows in the past.
Weiner believes his paintings and drawings reflect the influences and understanding he has gathered from the various fields to which he has devoted his time. These areas of interest have included Northern Renaissance Art, Chinese Art, Neolithic Art, as well as contemporary abstraction, and the careful study of nature, all of which are reflected in his work. He admires the talents of many artists and particularly enjoys the works of Dürer, Matisse, van Gogh, and Italian artists of the sixteenth century. He also has found inspiration in the nineteenth century, from the Pre-Raphaelites and the great poster artists of the Belle Epoque, to children's book illustrators, most notably, the works of Arthur Rackham. Among contemporary artists, he admires the works of Steve Hanks, Robert Vickery, and all the Wyeths.
Weiner's classical art background is reflected in his unique style which marries realism to abstraction; this melding allows him to capture the shifting material properties of the visual world through aspects of designs and chaotic patterns.
Weiner enjoys the particular freedom graphite offers but he also works extensively with precious metalpoint, namely, 24 kt. gold, rose gold, yellow gold, green gold, silver and platinum. His color works are created with hand-ground Chinese inks, Japanese pan colors, egg tempera, watercolor pencils, and various combinations thereof. He believes that his task as an artist is to guide the viewer through an undiscovered country, where contrast, texture, pattern and design all come together to create timeless images which are evocative to everyone. He summarizes his approach to selecting subject matter simply: "I draw what pleases me."
Weiner lives with his two sons, a noisy dog, and two free-range tortoises, in West Caldwell, New Jersey. His work hangs in many private collections in both the U.S. and abroad.