Edward Kienholz

Edward KIENHOLZ

United States of America  1927–1994

Nancy REDDIN KIENHOLZ

United States of America  born 1943

Edward Kienholz was born in Fairfield, Washington, on 23 October 1927. He studied for short periods at Eastern Washington College of Education in Cheney and Whitworth College in Spokane, Washington; however, these studies included no formal art training. In 1952 Kienholz moved to Los Angeles and held his first solo exhibition at Coronet Louvre in 1955. In 1957 after the closure of his Now Gallery, Los Angeles, he opened the Ferus Gallery, where he regularly exhibited during the late 1950s and early 1960s. It was during the late 1950s that Kienholz began making his assemblages, which were first exhibited at the Ferus Gallery in 1962.

Following his marriage to Nancy Reddin (born Los Angeles, 9 December 1943) in 1972, Kienholz began to work in collaboration with his wife. In 1981 Kienholz acknowledged their collaboration by retrospectively attributing all works completed after 1972 to both artists. From the early 1980s they held regular solo exhibitions at LA Louver Gallery and Gemini G.E.L. in Los Angeles.  In 1996 the Whitney Museum of Art organised a major retrospective, which travelled to the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, and Berlinische Galerie, Berlin. Edward Kienholz died on 10 June 1994 in Hope, Idaho. Nancy Kienholz lives and works in Hope, Idaho.

See more works by this artist in the NGA collection

Edward Kienholz The Opti-can royale 1977 © Nancy Reddin Kienholz Purchased 1978 Learn more

Edward Kienholz The econo-can 1977 © Nancy Reddin Kienholz Purchased 1978 Learn more

Edward Kienholz The billionaire deluxe 1977 © Nancy Reddin Kienholz Purchased 1978 Learn more