Godson and cousin of Lebanese-American poet Kahlil Gibran, Kahlil G. Gibran studied at the Boston Museum School had his first solo show in New York in 1948. In the spring of 1953, Gibran stopped painting altogether, continuing his career as sculptor, draughtsman, musical instrument maker, and conservator. The Surface and Below presents a select group of rarely seen paintings created between 1948 and 1952, the period in which Kahlil G. Gibran – then one of Boston and New York’s most celebrated painters – focused on texture and color with systematic techniques achieved through the artist’s preferred medium at the time, which included encaustic, a method of mixing heated beeswax with pigment, and Duco, an early polymer paint. The exhibition title refers to the artist’s technical virtuosity in exploring layers of personal imagination. Gibran’s introspective expressionism is marked by delicate calligraphy and translucent organic images – mussels, fallen leaves, and dream-like figuration. The exhibition is organized by the Ogunquit Museum of American Art with guest curator Anthony N. Moore and generously supported by Jean Gibran and Barridoff Galleries.
Kahlil G. Gibran
"Quarry, Unframed"
