Matthias Kern was born in Celle, a small German city south of Hamburg. From a very early age he was exposed to various forms of art and attended all the art classes that were available in his hometown. He was fortunate to have attended classes with Martha Asfalck-Fietz, a very well known German artist, focusing on watercolor, and printmaking classes with Silvia Slawik-Nolte.
At this point Matthias was guided to study with Helga Hentschel-Holterdorf in Worpswede, an artist colony located in northern Germany (outside of Bremen) which further encouraged his desire to soak in as much art as possible.
In the mid 1980’s, he became associated with other artists and held group shows in and around Celle and other German cities. In 1989 he had his first solo show, which brought him considerable notoriety and lead his work to be presented more widely. As the early 1990’s progressed, so did Matthias’ work. He continued to attend art classes and hold more shows, both group and solo. He presented work all over Germany including shows in Hannover, Hamburg and Tecklenburg.
After moving to the United States and settling in New York, he had his first show in the DUMBO Art Festival in Brooklyn. Since then, he has had several solo shows in New York City and other places, like at the Roxbury Arts Group in Roxbury, NY. His work was noted as being a “very well needed entry onto the New York art scene.”
Additionally, Kern also exhibits at different locations around the USA as well as worldwide like Germany, Iceland, Australia and India, just to name a few.
He also curated an art show at City College of New York assisting Japanese American artist, Michi Itami.
For years he is a vital part of the artist lead printmaking studio “Manhattan Graphics Center” in New York City, and teaches students the “wonder” of the printmaking/art world.
Over the years, Matthias has experimented with various artistic expressions including watercolor, acrylic and pastel, as well as printmaking. He enjoys working in the older printmaking techniques as well as more modern techniques of intaglio, encompassing dry point, aquatint, mezzotint, line etching, silk screen, monotype and woodcut.
His vision is to achieve with his art feelings that we all have experienced, and to allow his audience to personalize those emotions to mean something specific for them.
“Kunst ist schön, macht aber viel Arbeit – Art is beautiful – but requires much work” This quote from the German comedian Karl Valentin describes perfectly the creation of art. It’s hard work, mentally and physically, however it ends up in satisfaction for me as the artist and hopefully for the viewer. ART IS BEAUTIFUL
Pat Horner’s article on Matthias in the magazine Inside Out:
“Kern’s art has a lively, fresh temperament that is characterized by a surprising inventiveness that combines abstraction and representation in an intuitive way”
He studied under following artists:
– Martha Asfalck-Vietz – Watercolor
– Silvia Slawik-Nolte – Printmaking
– Frederiecke Reinsch – Watercolor
– Michi Itami – Printmaking
– Arnold Brooks – Lithography
– Colin Chase – Sculpture
– Margaret Nussbaum – Silkscreen
– Takuji Hamanaka – Japanese Woodblock
– Bill Gauthier – Gold Leaf
– Tom Hück – Woodcut (Master Class)