Ned Kahn is an environmental artist and sculptor, known in particular for museum exhibits, one of which is the Exploratorium in San Francisco. His work usually intends to make an invisible aspect of nature, visible.
Early life Kahn was born in New York City and raised in Stamford, Connecticut. At the age of 10, he staged his first exhibition of sculptures fashioned from salvaged junkyard items, where his mother had taken him.
After graduating with a degree in botany and environmental science from the University of Connecticut, in 1982, Kahn moved to San Francisco, where he was fascinated by the Exploratorium. He worked there from 1982 to 1996 under the tutelage of the museum's founder, Frank Oppenheimer. In 2001, Kahn became the artist in residence at the Headlands Center for the Arts.
Kahn moved from San Francisco to Graton, California in 1998 and works from the Ned Kahn Studios in Sebastopol. He is married and has two children. Kahn cites his daily meditation routine as key to his artistic development.
Awards
Kahn won a MacArthur Foundation "genius grant" fellowship in 2003, and the National Design Award for landscape architecture in 2005.
Works
Some examples of Kahn's work to capture the invisible include building facades that move in waves in response to wind; indoor tornadoes and vortices made of fog, steam, or fire; and a transparent sphere containing water and sand which, when spun, erodes a beach-like ripple pattern into the sand surface. In 2003 Kahn collaborated with Koning Eizenberg Architecture, Inc. on Articulated Cloud, a piece installed on the exterior walls of the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh consisting of hundreds of movable flaps that respond to the wind creating visible patterns.
His work is in the collection of di Rosa, Napa.
Selected works by Ned Kahn Title Image Element Location City State/Country Year Notes Refs. Aeolian Landscape Sand Museum of Life and Science Durham North Carolina 1993 Also on exhibit at the Exploratorium in San Francisco. Articulated Cloud Wind Children's Museum of Pittsburgh Pittsburgh Pennsylvania 2004 Collaboration with Konig/Eizenberg Avalanche Sand Children's Museum of Pittsburgh Pittsburgh Pennsylvania 2011 A similar piece named Negev Wheel has been exhibited at the Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco. Braided Stream Wind Exploratorium San Francisco California Breathing Sky Fog Yerba Buena Center for the Arts San Francisco California 1995 Bus Jet FountainWaterSalesforce Transit CenterSan FranciscoCalifornia2018 Chain of Ether Wind ResMed Corporation San Diego California 2009 Chaotic Pendulum Exploratorium San Francisco California Circadian WindWindCirca Parking DeckLos AngelesCalifornia2019 Circular Wave Umbrella Wind Exploratorium San Francisco California Cloud Arbor Fog Buhl Community Park Pittsburgh Pennsylvania 2012 Collaboration with Andi Cochran Cloud Portal Fog Davis Court San Francisco California 2011 Collaboration with RHAA Cloud Rings Fog 21c Museum Hotel Louisville Louisville Kentucky 2006 An installation with the same name is on exhibit at the Exploratorium in San Francisco. Cloud Vessel Fog The Docks Sacramento California 2010 Collaboration with Walker Macy Digitized Field Wind AT&T Building Santa Rosa California 2004 Divided Sea Water Emerald Glen Park Dublin California 2004 Duales Systems Pavilion Fog Expo 2000 Hanover Germany 2000 Collaboration with Uwe Bruckner Enagua Wind Playa Vista Los Angeles California 2015 Collaboration with Johnson/Fain Encircled Cloud Fog Paradise Ridge Winery and Sculpture Garden Santa Rosa California 2012 Encircled Stream Water Founders CourtSeattle Center Seattle Washington 1995 Collaboration with Atelier Landscape Architects Encircled Void Wind Bertolini Student CenterSanta Rosa Junior College Santa Rosa California 2010 Erratic Fence Wind Sonoma County Museum Santa Rosa California 2015 Collaboration with Jensen Architects Feather Wall Wind Robert B. Green Clinical Pavilion San Antonio Texas 2012 Collaboration with Overland Partners and RTKL Field of Air Wind Denver International Airportbetween Jeppesen Terminal and Westin Hotel Denver Colorado 2015 Collaboration with Gensler Fire Vortex Fire/Light Technorama Winterthur Switzerland 1997 Firefly Fire/Light San Francisco Public Utilities CommissionCivic Center San Francisco California 2012 Fluvial Storm Sand Exploratorium San Francisco California 1990 Glacial Facade Fire/Light Issaquah Highlands Park and Ride Issaquah Washington 2006 Greenhouse Project Fire/Light San Francisco County Jail 3 San Bruno California 1990 Hidden Sea Wind Ceatrice Polite Apartments San Francisco California 2000 Hyperbolic Paraboloid Wind Crossroads School Santa Monica California 2015 Collaboration with Fred Fisher Liquid Pixels Wind Rosslyn1801 N Lynn St Arlington Virginia 2002 Magnetic Field Stone Sand Exploratorium San Francisco California 1996 Mare Undurum Fire/Light Tempe Center for the Arts Tempe Arizona 2008 Microturbines Wind Santa Rosa Junior College Santa Rosa California 2009 Net of Indra Fire/Light Automated Garage at City Hall West Hollywood California Collaboration with Rick D'Amato Pebble Chime Sand Discovery WorldPier Wisconsin Milwaukee Wisconsin 2006 Pedibrion Falls Water 21c Museum Hotel Durham Durham North Carolina 2015 Prairie Tree Wind Nicollet Mall Minneapolis Minnesota 2017 Prism Tunnel Fire/Light Children's GardenHuntington Library Gardens San Marino California 2004 Project Lions Wind Debenhams flagshipOxford Street London England 2014 Collaboration with Archial Architects Quantum Wave Water ATF Headquarters Washington District of Columbia 2008 Rain Oculus Water Marina Bay Sands Singapore 2011 Collaboration with Moshe Safdie Rain Portal Water San Francisco Public Utilities Commission San Francisco California 2012 Deaccessioned in 2018 due to persistent leakage. Rainbow Arbor Fog Skirball Cultural Center Los Angeles California 2008 Collaboration with Moshe Safdie Rift Zone Sand Exploratorium San Francisco California Seismic Sea Water Pasadena Museum of California Art Pasadena California 2009 Sonic Pool Water Children's GardenHuntington Library Gardens San Marino California 2004 Sonic Range Sand Exploratorium San Francisco California 1992 Spoonfall Water H2 Hotel Healdsburg California 2010 Subducted Landscapes Sand Chevron Texaco Headquarters San Ramon California 2002 Technorama Facade Wind TechnoramaThe Swiss Science Center Winterthur Switzerland 2002 Tipping Wall Water Marina Bay Sands Singapore 2011 Collaboration with Moshe Safdie Tornado Fog World Financial CenterBattery Park City New York New York 1990 Also on exhibit at the Exploratorium in San Francisco. Turbulent Line Wind Brisbane Airport Brisbane Australia 2012 Collaboration with UAP Turbulent Orb Water World Financial CenterBattery Park City New York New York 1990 Also on exhibit at the Exploratorium in San Francisco. Turbulent Shade Wind City Hall Chandler Arizona 2010 Vertical Canal Wind Rijkswaterstaat Utrecht Netherlands 2008 The Wave Wind Target Field Minneapolis Minnesota 2010 Collaboration with Tom Oslund and Associates Wave Oculus Water Union Point Pier Oakland California 2006 Wavespout (Breathing Sea) Water Ventura Pier San Buenaventura California 1993 Destroyed by 1995 storm along with of the Pier Alternate URL, image of first section Wind Arbor Wind Marina Bay Sands Singapore 2011 Collaboration with Moshe Safdie Wind Cube Wind [private collection] Santa Rosa California 2005 Wind Fence Wind University of Oregon Eugene Oregon Wind Fingers Wind [private collection] Sebastopol California Wind Fins Wind Neiman Marcus Walnut Creek California 2012 Wind House Wind DiRosa Art and Nature Preserve Napa California 2003 Wind Leaves Wind Discovery WorldPier Wisconsin Milwaukee Wisconsin 2006 Wind Portal Wind San Francisco International Airport station San Francisco California 2003 Wind Roundabout Wind Traffic roundabout Fort Worth Texas 2015 Wind Silos Wind International Trade Center Charlotte North Carolina 2006 Wind Veil Wind Gateway Village Charlotte North Carolina 2000
See also Environmental art Environmental sculpture
References
External links
Official website http://greenmuseum.org/kahn