Nicholas Kriefall

I've had a passion for art since I was four and "helped" my mother with her final drawing when she was an art student. Looking at the bright yellow addition to her black and white charcoal figure, instead of scolding the act, she simply took the marker and led me to a blank sheet of paper. After that, whether it was drawing a doodle in a class notebook or the self-made comic books that filled my drawers, I couldn't slow down. It wasn't until my later years of college that I learned I had an interest in painting. Slowly, I became more abstract as an artist and my themes and palette changed before my eyes.

A native to the Midwest, I have always been drawn to nature, be it the sea that stemmed from childhood trips to the coast and a young introduction to snorkeling or exploring rock formations out west. Along with learning about Hemingway through my father, his tale of an old man battling elements beyond him, and the fact that we know more about foreign worlds than our own, the encompassing truth and mystery of our planet's identity has ever fascinated me.

My current collection deals with the relationship between the key elements of nature, whether hostile or dependent, and the delicate balance of one’s need for the other. Using colors, shapes, and texture over multiple layers, I explore the comfort and animosity of a place revisited or newly imagined, continuously experimenting with visual depth, and incorporating a certain emotion as a map spills from mind to the canvas.

2009 - Bachelor of Fine Arts - University of Central Missouri, Warrensburg, MO

2019 - Curator's Choice in juried exhibit Driven to Abstraction IV
2018 - Award of Excellence in juried exhibit Everything Blue II
2018 - Award of Excellence in juried exhibit Driven to Abstraction III
2018 - Jan/Feb featured Artist at CI Select; Cays & Coordinates II displayed in showroom
2017 - Honorable Mention in juried exhibit Everything Blue
2016 - Best of Show in juried exhibit Driven to Abstraction
2013 - 2nd place in juried exhibit Hot Town, Summer in the City

Solo Exhibitions:

2020 - Something in the Water - Metropolitan Square Building, St. Louis, MO
2019 - Modern Maritimae- Metropolitan Square Building, St. Louis, MO
2019 - Selected Works - Metropolitan Square Building, St. Louis, MO
2017 - The Cliff's Edge - Hue Gallery of Contemporary Art, Wichita, KS
2016 - Cays & Coordinates - Metropolitan Square Building, St. Louis, MO
2015 - Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea - Foundry Art Centre, St. Charles, MO
2015 - Feral: Revisited - Metropolitan Square Building, St. Louis, MO
2015 - Speed of Blight - Metropolitan Square Building, St. Louis, MO
2014 - Constellations - Metropolitan Square Building, St. Louis, MO
2014 - Feral - Metropolitan Square Building, St. Louis, MO
2013 - New & Selected Paintings - Metropolitan Square Building, St. Louis, MO
2012 - Terra Splendor - Hoffman LaChance Contemporary, St. Louis, MO
2011 - Oil Spills & Metaphors - Aisle 1 Gallery, St. Louis, MO

Group Exhibitions:

2019 - Driven to Abstraction IV - Soulard Art Gallery, St. Louis, MO
2018 - Everything Blue II - Soulard Art Gallery, St. Louis, MO
2018 - Driven to Abstraction III - Soulard Art Gallery, St. Louis, MO
2017 - As We Enter New Planes - Matthew Rachman Gallery, Chicago, IL
2017 - Everything Blue - Soulard Art Gallery, St. Louis, MO
2016 - Artist Reception - Leopold Gallery & Art Consulting, Kansas City, MO
2016 - Driven to Abstraction - Soulard Art Gallery, St. Louis, MO
2014 - Fall Group Show: Selected Gallery Artists - Pryor Fine Art, Atlanta, GA
2013 - 33December - Old Orchard Gallery, St. Louis, MO
2013 - Fear II - Soulard Art Market & Contemporary Gallery, St. Louis, MO
2013 - Hot Town, Summer in the City - Webster House Galleries, St. Louis, MO
2012 - First Fridays at Crossroads Art District - Wheat Photography, Kansas City, MO
2009 - University of Central Missouri, Warrensburg, MO

abstract, contemporary, oil painting, oceanic, landscape, seascape