The Blanden Museum of Art acquired two photographs from my series The Unchosen Ones and Out to Pasture to be enjoyed by the public in its permanent collection, courtesy of Olson-Larsen Galleries. Special thanks to Eric Anderson to making this happen. These two photographs have special meaning to me— they are among my first exhibited photographs from personal projects:
(LEFT): Anna and Helen, Blue Earth County Fair, Minnesota, USA, 2016 from the series The Unchosen Ones was the portrait exhibited at the National Portrait Gallery (London, England) in 2017 as part of the "Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize Exhibition.” This photograph from the series The Unchosen Ones (Published in The Unchosen Ones: Portraits of an American Pastoral, MW Editions, 2021).
(RIGHT): Stella, Isanti County, Minnesota, USA (right) was exhibited as part of my first solo exhibition of photography at Central Lakes College (2017) and exhibited in a solo exhibition at Gallery 360 in Minneapolis (2017). This photograph from the series Out to Pasture was published in The Sheep and the Goats (Kehrer Verlag, 2017).
Blanden Art Museum Director Eric Anderson (left) with R. J. Kern (artist) and Alyss Vernon, Gallery Director at Olson-Larsen Galleries, (right) holding newly acquired photographs by the museum at the reception of The Unchosen Ones on May 4, 2024 in Fort Doge, Iowa.
Stella, Isanti County, Minnesota, USA (2016) from the series Out to Pasture (published in The Sheep and the Goats, Kehrer Verlag, 2017), archival pigment print, 20 x 24 inch sheet size, Edition 1/10 + 2AP, courtesy Olson-Larsen Galleries.
Anna and Helen, Blue Earth County Fair, Minnesota, USA, 2016 (2016) from the series The Unchosen Ones (Published in The Unchosen Ones: Portraits of an American Pastoral, MW Editions, 2021), archival pigment print, 20 x 24 inch sheet size, Edition 3/10 + 2AP, courtesy Olson-Larsen Galleries.