DOUGLAS KOLK
— I recently rediscovered in my pile of clippings, pictures and papers, a diary that I found as a youth. I lived next to the nursing home, which my parents ran for 30 years in Newark New Jersey. Often I would go through the trash and find personal items that had been discarded by residents or their families after the residents’ death. This particular little book was owned by someone who recorded the names and dates of those that passed away. Through the years I got to know most of the residents quite well, then would come their inevitable failing of physical and mental health and then death. My mother was a nurse at the nursing home and would regularly return home teary eyed with the news that Mr. or Mrs. so-and-so had died. This was something I got very used to as a kid– aging and death.
Douglas Kolk is an American artist based in Boston, Massachusetts. He is known primarily for his drawing, as well as work in collage and mixed media. Kolk’s work has been shown internationally at galleries and museums including the Helsinki City Art Museum in Finland, Kasseler Kunstverein and Kunsthalle Mannheim in Germany, Kunsthalle St. Gallen, and The Royal Academy in London. His work features in several prominent collections including The Falckenberg Collection and the Saatchi Gallery. He is represented by Arndt & Partner in Berlin and Zurich.