Recognized primarily as a sculptor and a writer, Dion Kliner also creates intimately scaled works on paper. Texts for Nothing – One is one of a series of thirteen drawings inspired by Samuel Becket’s thirteen short prose pieces in his book Stories and Texts for Nothing, published in 1967. Kliner’s drawings were produced letter by letter in a laborious rewriting of each one of the texts in its entirety. The original content remains, but has been pulverized through a random distribution of its letters over the paper. Far from being permanent formations, Kliner sees the drawings as short term agglomerations of possibility, which at any moment could crumble back to their original state or reconfigure into something entirely new.
Kliner was born in Los Angeles, California. After attending the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design and East Texas State University he moved to New York City where he worked as a sculptor and writer. In 2003 Kliner relocated with his family to Vancouver. Kliner’s sculptures and drawings have been shown throughout North America, including solo exhibitions at Saint Thomas University (Fredericton) and East Texas State University Gallery (Commerce, Texas). He has also been featured in numerous group exhibitions, including those at Burrard Arts Foundation (Vancouver), Gallery Jones (Vancouver) and Vancouver Art Gallery. Kliner was awarded the Adolph and Esther Gottlieb Foundation Grant in 2014.
Pierre Coupey + Dion Kliner 2021 exhibition in Canton-sardine.
Agias the Arcadian+Proxenus the Boeotian | Paster & Mix Materials | 2020
Clearchus the Spartan | Paster & Mix Materials | 2020
Foot and Leg | Paster & Mix Materials | 2020
Four Legs | Paster & Mix Materials | 2020
Hear (Helmet 1) | Paster & Mix Materials | 2020
Head (Scagliola 1) | Paster & Mix Materials | 2020
Head With Wings | Paster & Mix Materials | 2020
Head (Imaginary Portrait) | Paster & Mix Materials | 2020
Head for Edwin Parker | Paster & Mix Materials | 2020
Menon the Thessalian | Paster & Mix Materials | 2020
Socrates the Achaean | Paster & Mix Materials | 2020
All works’ price upon request by email: stdragonn@canton-sardine.com
Dion Kliner
Solo Exhibitions
2009
Sculpture, Yellow Box Gallery, Saint Thomas University, Fredericton, NB.
2004
Entropic State, Zack Gallery, Vancouver, BC.
1989
Meaningless Objects, Vancouver Community Arts Council, Vancouver, BC.
1988
Meaningless Objects, East Texas State University Gallery, Commerce, TX.
1987
All Roads Lead, East Texas State University Gallery, Commerce, TX.
1983
Dion Kliner: Paintings, Issac’s Gallery, Be’er Sheva, Israel.
Group Exhibitions
2021
Imaginary Portraits, Canton-Sardine, Vancouver, BC.
2019
Go Figure, CityScape Gallery, North Vancouver, BC.
2018
Pierre Coupey | Rock Pool + Dion Kliner | Selected Sculpture, Vancouver, BC.
2017
The Mislooked, Burrard Arts Foundation, Vancouver, BC.
2012
Enough Is As Good As A Feast, Gallery Jones, Vancouver, BC.
2011
Unreal, Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, BC.
2006
SCOPE Alternative, Trans-ient Art Space, East Hampton, NY.
The Spaces In Between, Silas Marder Gallery, Bridgehampton, NY.
2004
Gallery Jones, Vancouver, BC.
2003
Tendencies of Self-Containment, Universal Concepts Unlimited, New York, NY.
2002
Universal Concepts Unlimited, New York, NY.
The Armory Show, New York, NY.
2001
The Pierogi Flatfiles, Block Artspace, Kansas City, Missouri.
The Time Machine: Sculpture in the 20th Century, The University of Lethbridge Art Gallery, Lethbridge AB.
2000The Pierogi Flatfiles, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, CA.
Haulin’ Ass, Pierogi in LA, POST Gallery, Los Angeles, CA.
1999
Pierogi 2000: The Flatfiles, Rosenwald-Wolf Gallery, The University of the Arts Philadelphia, PA.
1998
Current Undercurrent: Working in Brooklyn, The Brooklyn Museum of Art New York, New York, NY. Art on Paper, Weatherspoon Art Gallery, Greensboro, NC.
Pierogi 2000, New York: The Flatfiles, Kunstlerhaus, Vienna, Austria.
The Flatfiles, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, New York, NY. Pierogi Goes to College, Bard College, Rheinbeck, New York, NY.
1997
Summer Invitational, Steffany Martz Gallery, New York, NY.
Dion Kliner and Darcy Mann, Synagogue for the Arts, New York, NY.
New York Drawers, The Pierogi 2000 Flatfiles, Gasworks, London, England.
New York Drawers, The Pierogi 2000 Flatfiles, Cornerhouse, Manchester, England.
1996
Sculpture and Painting, PS 122 Gallery, New York, NY.
Mysticism in Jewish Art, Klutznick National Jewish Museum, Washington, DC.
1994
Sculpture at 72 Berry, 72 Berry, Brooklyn, NY.
1993
Ward’s Island Outdoor Sculpture 1993, Manhattan Psychiatric Center, Ward’s Island, NY.
1990
Fourth International Shoe Box Sculpture Exhibition, University of Hawaii Art Gallery, Honolulu, HA.
1989
S’no Show, Idee Gallery, Toronto, ON.
Drawing Conclusions, Southwest Texas University Gallery, San Marcos, TX.
1988
Third International Shoe Box Sculpture Exhibition, University of Hawaii Art Gallery, Honolulu, HA.
1987
Texas Graduates, Sixth Texas Sculpture Symposium, blue collar gallery, San Antonio, TX.
Et Hominum Esse Memento, East Texas State University Gallery, Commerce, TX.
The Louisiana Festival of the Arts, Masur Museum of Art, Monroe, LA.
1986
Ecphore, The Alternative Arts Society, Halifax, NS.
Commissions
1986
Point Gray Secondary School, Vancouver, BC.
1985
City of Halifax, NS.
Public Collections
Vancouver Art Gallery
The Canada Council Art Bank.
Visiting Artist
2010
Saint Thomas University, Fredericton, NB.
Residencies
1988
Artist-in-Residence, Israeli Center for the Creative Arts (HILAI), Mitzpe Ramon, Israel.
Grants
2014
Adolph and Esther Gottlieb Foundation Grant
Education
1989
MFA, East Texas State University, Commerce, TX.
1986
BFA, Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, Halifax, NS.
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