Biography

Since establishing his studio in New York in 1979, the painter Loren Munk has constantly pursued a commitment to painting and the artistic community. Conceptual street works in the early 1980's lead to his arrest by the New York City Police Department. The subsequent notoriety contributed to a string of successful exhibitions of paintings in Soho and internationally. His unique and innovative use of materials such as mirror, gold-leaf and glass mosaic affirmed him as a founding force of Kitsch Art and a leading member of New York Neo-Expressionism. As a means of entering the critical and theoretical discourse, Munk created the persona James Kalm in the mid nineties. Publishing hundreds of essays and reviews under this pseudonym, most notably in the Brooklyn Rail, Munk became fascinated with the history and associations of the New York art world. These developments led to a reassessment and the current series of works, which aestheticize art history and document the local art community. YouTube's Kalm Report exemplifies Munk's blurring of criticism, historic documentation, journalism and performance art and began a new mode of art reportage on the internet.