Exhibitions

Watermark Art Center (Solo Exhibition)

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The Unchosen Ones touring exhibition has made its first stop in the land of Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox: Bemidji, Minnesota. The show will be up at the Watermark Art Center through March 25, 2023. Special thanks to the staff at the Watermark and Executive Director Lori Forshee-Donnay for their amazing support!

This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota, through a grant from the Region 2 Arts Council, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.

Paris Photo Pop-Up Show & Sale

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Five years ago I published my first book with German publisher, Kehrer Verlag. Since, I’ve had a box of match prints (8x12 inches) used for proofing purposes in the printing process and will be releasing them to celebrate five-years!

The archival pigment prints are all pristine condition, signed on verso. I will release this special series of prints for Paris Photo 2022, running Nov 8 - 12, 2022.

If you are in Paris, my friends Jamie Johnson and Dotan Saguy and I will be hosting a party. You are welcome, please RSVP. They will have prints from their Kehrer Verlag book, too!

As a follower of my work, I am pleased to offer special access, first come first served. They will go fast.

A selection of prints from my series Divine Animals: The Bovidae, Out to Pasture, and The Unchosen Ones will be released for Paris Photo 2022.

Eyes on Main Street - 2022

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One of my photographs will be exhibited as part of the Eyes on Main Street (8th Edition), curated by Ghadah Alrawi, Jérôme De Perlinghi, and Carol Johnson, Wilson, NC (October 21, 2022 - March 25, 2023). Special thank you to the curators for inviting me to be apart of this really cool concept of photography exhibitions. I love bringing art to the people. For 150 days, 100 photographs will be displayed on 100 storefront windows, walls and buildings, spanning nine city blocks in Wilson, NC.

Project website >>

Ava, Pastoral Study, 2020 by R. J. Kern, exhibited Eyes on Main Street (8th Edition), curated by Ghadah Alrawi, Jérôme De Perlinghi, and Carol Johnson, Wilson, NC (October 21, 2022 - March 25, 2023).

Homage to Nadar

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Moments after this photograph was created on July 16, 2022, Michael Tauer (right) was declared Supreme Champion Showman at the 2022 Redwood County Fair in Minnesota. This was the last year of 4-H showing for the family, a bittersweet experience, according to Michael’s mother, Kris. Left to right: Morgan, Jeff, Kris and Michael Tauer.

The photograph was published recently in the exhibition, Time, juried by Michael Behlen, and featured in Analog Forever magazine (online). View the works here >>

This tintype photograph serves as homage to Nadar (Adrien Tournachon, French, 1825 - 1903) who photographed prizewinning animals at the agricultural competitions in the late 1850s, early 1860s. The photographs serve both artists and breeders, as they document fine specimens of horses, cattle, etc.

"The Tauer Family, Redwood County Fair, July 16, 2022" by R. J. Kern. Unique tintype, 8 x 10 inches, 2022.

Summer Art at Burnet Art

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“Summer is a great time to visit art museums, which offer the refreshing rinse of swimming pools - only instead of cool water, you immerse yourself in art,” writes Jerry Saltz.

Dip your toes into the art pool back room at Burnet Fine Art and you’ll find to two special photographs from 'The Unchosen Ones' series special— exhibition prints from juried shows. Exhibitions and curation form the backbone of photographic art. These framed photographs have earned frequent flier miles:

"Anna and Helen, Blue Earth County Fair, 2016" (right), exhibited at the National Portrait Gallery (London, UK), below.

Exhibition print from the Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize 2017 Exhibition, National Portrait Gallery, London, England, 2017

And "Carlana, Pastoral Study, 2020" (left) at Photographic Center Northwest (Seattle, WA) from the exhibition "Time Capsule," Juried by Shamim M. Momin, 2021.

Exhibition print from "Time Capsule," Juror: Shamim M. Momin, Photographic Center Northwest, Seattle, WA , 2021

A thought to ponder as you float in the art pool from Jerry Saltz: "Billions of photos are shot every year, and about the toughest thing a photographer can do is invent an original, deeply personal, instantly recognizable visual style.”

Solo Exhibition at Burnet Fine Art

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I’m pleased to announce dates for my third solo exhibition held at Burnet Fine Art & Advisory (Wayzata, MN) opening May 21 (I”ll be there 4-7pm). The Unchosen Ones features a selection of photographs from the series of the same name, presented in archival pigment prints, tintypes, and toned silver gelatin prints.

“(Kern’s) work is about people and animals, but it is also very much about a world in which people and animals continue to coexist, and the ways a childhood experience may or may not shape a later life,” writes Alison Nordström, Independent Curator, in her essay in the The Unchosen Ones: Portraits of an American Pastoral (MW Editions, 2021).