About

Flink in his St Paul Studio, 2022  

 

BIO

Nathanael Flink is an artist based in Minnesota. He earned a BFA from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design in 1994. Flink has been the recipient of the Minnesota State Arts Board Fellowship and the Knight Foundation Arts Challenge Grant. He has exhibited his work in solo exhibitions in South Korea and Minnesota and group exhibitions in New York, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Vermont. His work is held in private collections in North America and Asia.

 

STATEMENT

A new direction has been emerging in my work in the last two years that connects my past with the present. In a new body of textile works, I stitch together fabrics seeking unexpected visual occurrences. These assemblages are comprised of cut apart fragments combined with various other fiber materials such as yarn, burlap, canvas, drop-cloths or other substrate. Sometimes reminiscent of furniture from one's living room or patio, a drama is played out that suggests the domestic experience, and the emotions that conjures. In this work there are curious tropes and cartoon figures, that operate on a dramatic level stemming from memories or emotive situations.

My work blurs the barrier between disciplines. Like graffiti on the side of a train, the material of the object contributes to the aesthetic experience as much as the gesture. The material is the idea, existing within a painting framework, but not perceptible solely "as a painting." I endeavor to manufacture surprise, to challenge viscerally – sometimes nostalgically – through pattern and a reminiscence to household objects. The shapes and asymmetrical compositional structures reveal contrary and paradoxical elements – I try to expose unobvious relationships. As Jean-Luc Marion writes ...to let burst into the scene much more than what one desires or wills.

 

I have striven to hone my craftsmanship and incorporate new processes and materials in my work. A recent development, I have branched out to working with various sewing, embroidery and weaving techniques, that use assemblage and collage as a key strategy. I am especially interested in the possibilities for crossing over between realms of sculpture, craft, painting, and drawing. In these pieces I associate a humoristic, sometimes existential sentiment. Many different ideas collide together in theme and content, all of it is quite personal to me. Mark making is a key mechanism in these works especially where it exists in a raw and unedited format. However the mark making is created through all kinds of different media and techniques, bridging printmaking with soft materials construction methods. These compositions originate from a vulnerability or fragility from inside myself.

 

CV

Solo Exhibitions
2022	No Strings Attached, Anagram Gallery, Northfield MN (online)
2020	Uff Da Gestalt, Soo Visual Arts Center, Minneapolis MN
2019	The Distance Between, Gallery B, St. Paul MN
2019	Nathanael Flink, Central Air/Nomadic Art Space, Minneapolis MN
2018	Nathanael Flink, Nemeth Art Center, Park Rapids MN
2017	Teeth, Minnesota’s Smallest Museum, St. Paul MN
2001	Nathanael Flink 2001, curated by Park In Kwan, Gallery Picasso, Pusan, South Korea
Group Exhibitions
2023	Carolyn Glasoe Bailey Foundation Gala, Ojai, California (upcoming)
	TBA, NE Sculpture Gallery, Minneapolis, Minnesota curated by Tessa Wick (upcoming)
	Hybridity, Wiliamsburg, Brooklyn, New York curated by Audra Lambert
	Future Tense, Gallery 13 Presents, Minneapolis
	Get Lucky, Soo Visual Arts, Minneapolis
2022	A Lack Of Discourse, Visual Lamentations, A-Mill curated by Tessa Wick
	Art Mart, Soo Visual Arts, Minneapolis
	The Artful Present, Veronique Wantz Gallery, Minneapolis, MN
	Summer Group Show, Veronique Wantz Gallery, Minneapolis, MN
	Video Night #1, curated by Joshua Mcgarvey
	The Auction at MCAD, Minneapolis College of Art and Design
	Pr0file, Foley Gallery, New York City, curated by Le Vey and Klay-James Enos
	Geometric Gestures, Dodomu Gallery, Brooklyn, NYC (online)
	Athens Open Art, Art Number 23, Athens, Greece
	FRC12, Flat Rate Contempory (online), Richmond, Virginia
	NOIR, The Royal Society of American Art (online), curated by Jason Clay Lewis and Amelia Biewald, Brooklyn, NY
2021	Put it in the Chat, Soo Visual Arts, curated by Carolyn Payne & Alison Hiltner
	Recycle, Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition, curated by Renee Radenberg, NY
	FAME, Ivy League Gallery (online), curated by Nicole Hoekstra, Mpls, MN
	Get Lucky, Soo Visual Arts
2020	Open Door 15, Rosalux, curated by Todd Bockley, Minneapolis, MN
	Holiday Art Sale, Soo Visual Arts
2019	The Dreamer Remembers, curated by Betsy Alwin, Here Project Space, St. Paul MN
2018	Minneapolis Art Lending Library Artists, Metropolitan Regional Arts Council, St. Paul
	Art4Good Benefit Exhibition, Q.arma Building, Minneapolis
2017	TriTechA, Minneapolis Center for Digital Art, Minneapolis
2016	Tiny Art, Kolman Pryor, Minneapolis
	Art Up Cycle, Kolman Pryor, Minneapolis
2015	Ripple Effect, Prøve Gallery, Duluth, MN
	“REFINEDr” Benefit, Flow Art Space, St. Paul MN
	Shoestring Theory, Space 369, St. Paul
2001	Art Shanty Projects Exhibition, Soap Factory, Minneapolis
	Five Fundamentals, Gallery 360, Minneapolis, MN
	White Oak Gallery, Edina, MN
2000	Annual Juried Exhibition, State of the Arts Gallery, Ithaca, New York
	Juried Exhibition, PARTS Gallery, Minneapolis, MN – Juror:  Martin Weinstein, "2nd place prize"
	Corners Gallery, Ithaca, New York
Grants and Residencies
2016	Knight Foundation, Arts Challenge Grant, St. Paul MN
2000	Minnesota State Arts Board, Artist Fellowship MN
1999	Vermont Studio Center Residency & Fellowship
Other Artistic Activities
2022	Corporate Art Force Artist, Minneapolis Convention Center
	Minneapolis College of Art and Design Auction Committee
2021	Curator, "Contempo Tempo", NE Sculpture Gallery Factory, Casket Arts
2020	Curator, "Material Dichotomy", NE Sculpture Gallery Factory, Casket Arts
2017	Minneapolis Convention Center, Lending Artist, Corporate Art Force
2016	Organizer, Minneapolis Art Talk group
	Elf Burger Zine, Co-creator
	“Space 369” Project Space, Curator
	“REFINEDr” Benefit, Flow Art Space, St. Paul MN
	Minneapolis Art Lending Library, Lending Artist
2015	Phipps Center for the Arts, Healing Arts at Hudson Hospital, Wisconsin
	The Auction at MCAD, Christie’s Auction House, Minneapolis, MN
2002	5 Minutes of Fame, "Antler", video stream, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis
Works held in private collections in North America and Asia.
Education
Nathanael Flink was raised in St. Paul MN and received a BFA from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design (1994) with an emphasis on painting and printmaking.