A red sky in the morning is a Shepherd's warning.
Spring: The rainbow is a signifier of hope and optimism: a pot of gold lurking at its end. New beginnings.
Flip a rainbow upside down and you get a smile.
Summer: Lurking beneath the surface of everything lays a benign tumour waiting to turn malignant.
The paintings have glow in the dark messages that are revealed when the lights are turned out: the context and meaning forever changed.
Autumn: The superficiality of existence cannot be measured, only witnessed; seen or ignored or missed: Trauma.
Winter: Windows that were once open are now closed. Dreams of other places remembered. Living in two places at once…head down brain in hand…ongoing conversations…simultaneous with many…in locations around the world.
Blankets conceal what lies beneath.
The most dazzling and dramatic of sunsets bears the burden of the most dire consequences.
Kötting lives and works between Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Salisbury, Vermont.
Born in London, UK.
Moved to Brighton; while there escaped to Chicago for six months. Disappeared in the French Pyrenees for a year. Moved to Philadelphia for a year. Moved to Rome for a year. Moved to Brooklyn, New York for 15 years. Started living part time in Vermont in 1998. Moved to Los Angeles, California for 14 years. Currently living between Salisbury, Vermont and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
BA (hons) Brighton University (formerly Brighton Polytechnic) in 1988. MFA from the Tyler School of Art in 1991.
Kötting has had solo exhibitions around the world. They include: Don't Touch the Ears; You won't like it when She is Angry: Trauma CSUN West Gallery, Northridge (2018); Reflexive at Larissa Goldston Gallery, NYC (2010-2011); Heads Up! University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California (2008); The Art of Pilgrim(aging) at Gallerie Fortlaan 17, Ghent, Belgium (2007); Help! (bannersflyerstencils) at Larissa Goldston Gallery, NYC (2006); and Atrocity Exhibition at Yvon Lambert Gallery, NYC (2004). His work has been in numerous group exhibitions including A Day's Work (curated by Susan Morris) in Germany; Endless Bummer II / Still Bummin' Marlborough Chelsea, NYC (2013); New Prints at the International Print Center NYC (2007); Rainbow of Chaos, Larissa Goldston Gallery, NYC (2012); Il Faut Rendre à Cézanne at Collection Lambert, Avignon, France (2007); and Longitude/Latitude at Galerie Fortlaan 17, Ghent, Belgium (2007).
Kötting has received several awards throughout his career, including a John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Fellowship Award in 2004. His work can be found in many public collections including the Museum of Modern Art and New York Public Library.
He was the Curator/Director of The Todd Madigan Gallery, Bakersfield from 2009 - 2014. While there he organised solo shows by Jim Skuldt, Adrià Julià, Mary Weatherford, Gustavo Godoy and Drew Dominick as well as numerous group exhibitions. He has taught at Columbia University, California State University and Rhode Island School of Design.