Karl Jensen is an artist and architect practicing in New York City. Jensen earned a Bachelor of Architecture from Rice University and a Master of Fine Arts from Hunter College. Recent work includes his installation for the inaugural Homecoming Festival in Cincinnati, Ohio, special packaging for eighth blackbird’s HAND EYE, and artwork for the collaborative song cycle, Planetarium.


EDUCATION

2001

Registered Architect, New York State

1994

MFA, Hunter College, New York, NY

1989

BArch, Rice University, Houston, TX

1986

BA, Rice University, Houston, TX


SOLO EXHIBITIONS / INSTALLATIONS / COMMISSIONS

2018

Follies for Homecoming Festival, Smale Park, Cincinnati, OH

2017

The Sun, artwork created for Planetarium album by Sufjan Stevens, Bryce Dessner, Nico Muhly

2016

Special CD packaging for HAND EYE, eighth blackbird, Chicago, IL

2015

Saunascape, Olivebridge, NY

Signage Tower Concept Design: Eaux Claires Festival, Eau Claire, WI

CD Artwork for FILAMENT, eighth blackbird, Chicago, IL

2014

Set Design: Everywhere We Go, New York City Ballet (collaboration with Justin Peck & Sufjan Stevens), New York, NY

2012

Artwork for Crossing Brooklyn Ferry, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Brooklyn, NY

Artwork for Sufjan Steven’s Christmas Music Compilation, New York, NY

Artwork for Bryce Dessner website, New York, NY

2011

Expansions and Stratifications (two-person Show), Good Citizen Gallery, St. Louis, MO

2010

CD Cover Art for Daniel Carlson’s Aviary Jackson, New York, NY

2008

Set Design: The National/Summerstage, Central Park, New York, NY

Set Design: MusicNOW Festival, Memorial Hall, Cincinnati, OH

2007-13

Sculpture Commission (private): White Sulphur, Greenbrier, WV

2006

Set Design: MusicNOW Festival, Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati, OH

Set Design: Bryce Dessner/The Kitchen, New York, NY

2005

Crown Jewel Stolen from the King of Hell, Cue Art Foundation, New York, NY

2004

Set Design: Bryce Dessner solo concert, Clockwork Apple Gallery, New York, NY

2003

Pulpit, Mt. Holyoke College, South Hadley, MA

2002

Pulpit, Five Myles, Brooklyn, NY

2001

Birds Portchmouth Russum, Architekturmuseum, Basel, Switzerland

1997

Pretty Desperate Painting, Ah! Space Gallery, New York, NY


SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2008

Opportunity As Community: Artists Select Artists, Part II, Dieu Donné, New York, NY

2004

Open House: Working in Brooklyn, Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY

2002

Abstract Tendencies The Drawing Center, New York, NY

I-Beam, Cynthia Broan Gallery, New York, NY

Second Sight, Hunter College, Times Square Gallery, New York, NY

2000

Architecture as Metaphor, Sculpture Space, Utica, NY

1999

Imagining the Waterfront, South Street Seaport Museum, New York, NY

Six Sculptors, Long Island University, Brooklyn Campus, Brooklyn, NY

Design Ideas for the East River, Van Alen Institute, New York, NY

Flatland, Temple Gallery, Temple University Rome, Rome, Italy

1998

Summer Exhibition, Royal Academy of Art, London, England

Young Architects, The Architectural League, New York, NY

1997

Emerging Sculptors 10, Sculpture Center, New York, NY

International 97, Socrates Sculpture Park, Queens, NY

Sunscreen for Pier 54, Van Alen Institute, New York, NY

1996

Architecture on the Horizon, Royal Institute of British Architects, London, UK

1995

Contemporary British Architects, National Academy of Design, New York, NY

Sculpture Center at Roosevelt Island, Roosevelt Island, NY


PUBLIC COMMISSIONS

2003-08

Footbridge, Phoenix Arts Commission, Phoenix, AZ

1997-99

Bollard Sculptures, New Jersey Transit, Jersey City, NJ

1995

Entrance(s), Norbury Park, Surrey, England

1994-95

A13 Road Improvements, London, England


HONORS

1999

Artist’s Fellowship, New York Foundation for the Arts

1998

Young Architect Award, The Architectural League, New York, NY

Funded Resident, Sculpture Space, Utica, NY

1997

Emerging Artist Internship, Socrates Sculpture Park, New York, NY


LECTURES AND PANELS

2014

Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY

2003

Mt. Holyoke College, South Hadley, MA

Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI

2002

The Drawing Center, New York, NY

2001

Virginia Tech School of Architecture, Blacksburg, VA

2000

College Art Conference, New York, NY

Sculpture Space, Utica, NY

1999

Queens College Art Department, Queens, NY

South Street Seaport Museum, New York, NY

1998

Van Alen Institute, New York, NY

The Architectural League, New York, NY


SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

2004

Open House: Working in Brooklyn, Joe Hill, Contemporary, 9/04.

Open House: Working in Brooklyn, Daniel Baird, Brooklyn Rail, 5/04.

2003

Karl Jensen at Five Myles, Lilly Wei, Art in America, 4/03, pp. 146-7.

2002

Art Guide: Pulpit, Ken Johnson, The New York Times, Weekend, 9/27, p. E32.

2001

On The Buses, Richard Wilcock, Editor, Surface, 7/01, pp. 51-54

2000

Birds Portchmouth Russum, Adam Mornement, Architectural Record, 12/00, pp. 120-3.

Postcards from the 21st Century, Jayne Merkel, Oculus, 1/00, cover, p. 8.

Summer of Sculpture, Jonas Kover, The Utica Observer-Dispatch, Lifestyles, 6/1, pp.1, 8.

1999

A Fertile Garden of Sculptures, Ken Johnson, The New York Times, Weekend, 8/13, p. 35.

Flatland, Time Out Roma, 6/23, p. 40.

Mentors, Carole Rifkind, Architectural Record, 6/99, p. 26.

Sense of Identity, Kenneth Powell, The Architect’s Journal, 4/1, pp. 26-35.

1998

Note on the Exhibition: Young Architects Forum, Yasushi Zenno, a+u, 12/98, pp. 130-1.

Young Architects at the League, Adam Griff, Oculus, 6/98, p. 19.

1997

Voice Choices, Kim Levin, the village voice, 1/8, p. 8.

Emerging Sculptors 10, Matt Friedman, Review, 1/15, p. 18.

1996

Revisiting the Urban Motorway, Paul Finch, The Architect’s Journal, 8/15, pp. 27-31.

1996

Voice Choices, Kim Levin, the village voice, 10/1, p. 8.

Poetry in Parking, Deyan Sedjic and Georgi Stanishev, World Architecture, 5/96, pp. 38-9.

Varied Old England, Blair Kamin, Chicago Tribune, Arts and Entertainment, 3/17, p. 10.

1995

Londra Ripensa Le Sue Autostrade Urbane, Francesca Vagliani, Kineo, 10/95, pp. 91-5.

Rebels Without a Manifesto, Kenneth Powell, The Architect’s Journal, 3/23, p. 17.

1993

The Machinist’s Garage, Philip Arcidi, Progressive Architecture, 5/93, p.106.

1989

122-124 Haberdasher Street, Marco Romanelli, Domus, 10/89, p. 52.

Space for Reflection, Diana Periton, The Architect’s Journal, 3/29, pp. 37-9.

© Karl Jensen