My work is inspired primarily by the built environment of the urban landscape. Using a combination of everyday building materials and repurposed waste items such as bricks, concrete, Tyvek, and plastic bags, I address the meaning of material and function through sculpture. I am fascinated by our never-ending cycle of demolition and construction. And I am frightened by our disconnect with nature as I witness the tireless consumption of limited resources. Yet, I am an optimistic pessimist — among the construction sites, abandoned buildings, and street litter, I see signs of both practicality and poetry embedded in the various objects scattered across the urban landscape; I once saw a large section missing from a brick wall, resourcefully filled in with worn out automobile tires. It is this low-tech aesthetic of creative re-use that informs my process of making art.
Lives and works in Philadelphia, PA.
Solo Exhibitions
2012 Unoccupied, 40th Street AIRspace, Philadelphia, PA
2011 Fleisher Wind Challenge, Fleisher Art Memorial, Philadelphia, PA
2008 Constructed Drawings, Institute of Fine Arts, New York, NY
2005 The Wrong Side, MA Thesis Exhibition, 80 WSE Galleries, New York, NY
Selected Group Exhibitions
2017 A Mesh is Also a Snare, Esther Klein Gallery, Philadelphia, PA.
2017 Future Imperfect Continuous, Arlington Arts Center, Arlington, VA
2016 Process: Casting, Philadelphia Sculpture Gym, Philadelphia, PA
2014 Listening In: Philly Artists Speak, Abington Art Center, Abington, PA
2014 Writing Lessons, Butter Projects, Detroit, MI
2013 B-Sides, in conjunction with CITYWIDE, Rebekah Templeton Contemporary Art, Philadelphia, PA
2013 Traffic Cone Occasional, curated by Erik Sanner & Peter Emerick, Mobius, Cambridge, MA
2012 Make it, Break it, Rebuild it, Philadelphia Fringe Festival, Oxford Mills, Philadelphia, PA
2012 Exchange, 40th Street AIRspace, Philadelphia, PA
2012 Philly Residencies, Art Gallery at City Hall, Philadelphia, PA
2012 Amplify Action, Skylight Gallery, Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corp, Brooklyn, NY
2011 The New York Group Show, Kianga Ellis Projects, Brooklyn, NY
2011 The Space Savers Project, Esther Klein Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
2011 Mural Arts Program Winter Exhibition, The Icebox, Philadelphia, PA
2011 Flag Day, curated by Janet Goleas, Islip Art Museum, East Islip, NY
2009 Actions for Urban Spaces, curated by Nina Horisaki-Christens, Art in General, New York, NY
2005 Reclaiming Space, Space Gallery, Portland, ME
2005 Unreal Tournament, The Downtown Gallery at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN
2005 Storefront/Forefront, unoccupied/pre-renovation commercial space, New York, NY
2005 Boundaries, Philosophy Box, New York, NY
2005 Not bad meaning bad, but bad meaning good, Rosenberg Gallery, New York, NY
2004 Selected Work, curated by Kelly Sidley, Kimmel Center, New York, NY
2004 Against the Wall, curated by Simon DeAguero, Santa Fe Art Institute, Santa Fe, NM
2003 Video Exchange, Escola Superior de Tecnologia Gestão Arte e Design, Caldas da Rainha, Portugal
2003 NYU MA Studio Art Fall Show, The Commons, New York, NY
2003 Concepts, The Commons, New York, NY
2002 The Free Biennial, project of Sal Randolph, New York, NY
2001 Two Tons of “Take That!” public sculpture & performance, East Village, New York, NY
2000 Insufficient Fare, Second Avenue F Train Station, New York, NY
Awards, Projects, Residencies
2019 Industrial Dreams of Brewerytown Past, Mural with Philadelphia Mural Arts Youth, Philadelphia, PA
2018 Expanding Perspectives, Mural with Brad Carney, sponsor: Parkway Corp. & Phila. Mural Arts Program.
2018 DIYvek Plastic Fusion Tent, Art in the Open 2018, Philadelphia, PA
2014 Mural at Spruce Street Harbor Park at Penns Landing, Philadelphia, PA
2014 Hamilton Hall Public Art Initiative, University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA
2013 Invisible Avenue: An Exploration in Color, Mural with Brad Carney, sponsor: Phila. Mural Arts Program.
2012 Kensington Kinetic Sculpture Derby Judge’s Choice Award, Neighborhood Bike Works, Philadelphia, PA
2011 Recycled Artist-in-Residency (RAIR), Revolution Recovery, Philadelphia, PA
2011-12 40th Street Artist-in-Residence Program, Philadelphia, PA
2010 Fleisher Wind Challenge grant recipient in Sculpture/Installation category
2006 Newburgh Sculpture Project 2006, outdoor public sculpture, Newburgh, NY
2004 Newburgh Sculpture Project 2004, outdoor public sculpture, Newburgh, NY
2002 Building Sustainable Architecture project, Denniston Hill, Sullivan County, NY
2001-05 KASTsystem, Director of Graffiti Projects and Art Interventions
Bibliography
“First Look at the Spruce Street Harbor Park,” Conrad Benner, StreetsDept.com, June 24, 2014.
“Spruce Street Harbor Park Opens Friday,” Kellie Patrick Gates, PlanPhilly.com, June 23, 2014.
“Public Art by Michael Konrad sets up shop around town,” Chip Schwartz, KnightArts.org, February 18, 2014.
“Rebekah Templeton and Grizzly Grizzly process one another for Citywide Art Exchange,” Chip Schwartz, KnightArts.org, November 26, 2013.
“When art has no story to tell, it doesn’t need to make sense,” Peter Crimmins, Newsworks.org, November 14, 2013.
“A walking tour of public art along Fishtown’s Frankford Avenue,” Roman Blazic, The Artblog, August 24, 2013.
“Philadelphia Sculpture Gym’s ‘Mixed Media’ Exhibit,” Chip Schwartz, KnightArts.org, April 9, 2013.
“Performance Exhibit ‘Make It, Break It, Rebuild It’ was a Philly Fringe Highlight,” Chip Schwartz, KnightArts.org, September 18, 2012.
“Sixth Annual Kensington Kinetic Sculpture Derby,” Chip Schwartz, KnightArts.org, May 22, 2012.
“West Philadelphia looking is good,” Libby Rosof, The Artblog, March 22, 2012.
“Winter is Here!,” Philadelphia Parking Authority blog, January 25, 2012.
“‘Space Savers Project’ Pokes Fun of the Parking-Spot-Obsessed,” Katherine Rochester, Philadelphia Weekly, December 7, 2011.
“Michael Konrad Reinvents a Broken Society,”Artblog Radio (interview), April 18, 2011.
Horisaki-Christens, Nina. “Actions for Urban Spaces,” exhibition essay for Art in General, March 20, 2009.
Lough, Adam Bhala. Konrad: American Sculptor (video), 2007.
“Indoor, Outdoor Spaces Used to Kick Off New Exhibit,” Josh Harriman, The Forecaster, Portland, ME, Sept. 15, 2005.
Flavorpill.net, No. 96, Featured Pick, April 9, 2002.
Beautiful Decay, Featured Artist, January 2002.
Rekhi, Ben. MNN Television (interview), New York, NY, 2001.
Gookin, Kirby. (ed.) Transfermissions, New York University, 1998.
Education
2005 New York University, MA, Sculpture & Video
2001 New York University, BS, Studio Art
